The Legend of Dragoon: Serdian War
by tmntfan4eva
Summary: A novelization of the game Legend of Dragoon. I want to know what some of you think of the way its written and if it's accurate according to the game.
1. Raid on Seles

It was in the dead of night in the sleepy, mist-filled town of Seles. Everyone had been sleeping, away from most of the rest of Serdio, when the peace was shattered. Fireballs rained down upon them, burning through each and every one of the poorly built houses. The wood from which the houses were composed didn't stand a chance. High pitched cries could be heard all around as people young and old fled their homes and some even the town to escape this attack on their beloved town. But not a one of the soldiers of Sandora cared for these insignificant vermin. Only one girl was good enough to deserve to live. No one else was worth a penny. To kill them or not to, it made no difference.

This was why they went at the villagers. They just didn't care. They sliced their swords into them, destroyed all they held dear in front of their dying eyes, and watched them bleed out. They even cackled as many of the victims cried out for them to stop or sobbed in despair.

It took no more than thirty minutes for them to become bored of terrorizing the citizens and so the game finally died down, only a few people remaining standing so to speak. Technically the only ones standing were the soldiers and the beasts they rode on. And once this was fully realized by the group they focused all their attention on the buildings which, miraculously, were still standing.

The flames rose higher and higher with each passing moment, more sparks flew through the air, the wind picked up in intensity, and the silence became closer to becoming reality. The only thing that ruined the possibility of utter silence was the beating of hooves on the hard ground, the crackling of the fire, and, soon after, the voices of the sinister soldiers.

Eventually the commander arrived at the site, mildly surprised by the scene he was greeted with. Only mildly because he knew the force was sent by one of the most brutal men. The houses had collapsed into themselves, coving the sun scorched ground with the burnt wood that had once been a roof and walls, the sky was ablaze, multiple colors of red, orange, and yellow filling it, and the smoke created from the flames blanketed the once clear night sky in thick clouds. It didn't stop there as he went on.

There was a row of statues in the shape of a woman who was sacred to a few select towns around with random pieces missing, blood was pooling all over the ground from the multitude of dead or dying bodies that were strewn about, and lastly the birdbath like fountain set near the center had its support chopped in half so that it had crashed onto its side, the water spilling from its depths to mix with the crimson blood.

As he took in all this and more he came up on a group of soldiers who were standing in a circle with torches in their hands. "Great Commander, this way." One said, motioning to the ground in which all had been and still were staring.

The commander slowly lifted his leg over the beast so that he sat sidesaddle before he slipped effortlessly to the ground. He then made his way toward the center, kneeling down next to the body on the ground. "So…this is her." As he looked down on her, hesitating a fraction of a second, the others drew closer still, wanting to see what made this girl so special. This was especially true because she looked average, another one of those poor women.

She had light brown hair that fell just above her shoulders, curling at the ends, her eyes brown, and skin light as the moonlight that would have fallen on this disastrous scene, and faded blue clothes worn and torn to a great extent.

After another moment he reached his hand back behind him, expecting to receive what he needed without asking. And so he did. The man to his right pulled a glistening clear blue orb from his pocket and placed it in his hand.

The commander brought the orb to her forehead, gently taking her cheek with the other hand to tilt it upward. The smoggy black clouds quickly began to deviate to either side of the sky, revealing the moon in its full glory.

Once the moon touched the small crystal ball it started to glow a brilliant shade of blue and transferred the light of the moon through it onto the young girls' forehead. The light grew brighter until it reached a point where it shone unimaginably bright, beautiful blue light suddenly turned into golden yellow, almost like the sun.

They all looked on in wonder until the bright glow slowly started to dissipate back to its original state of nothingness. "Hmm, indeed." He muttered to himself, lightly tossing the ball back to the man who handed it to him as he rose into a standing position. "Put her in custody." He informed the group, turning on his heel, his cape trailing behind him and thus making his exit appear much grander. Although it wasn't intended, it was a habit.

He walked on by himself until he stood side by side with a strange man in a hood. "Is this really necessary?" He questioned the man with a confused yet simultaneously interested look present on his face.

"It is his Majesty, Emperor Doel's, command to take that girl into custody." As he said it the man's expression never changed. He wore the same emotionless look that he had since they arrived. It was as if he was incapable of human emotions.

This lack of emotion was ultimately why the Commander took to staring at him just as the hooded man did to him, as if to decipher some hidden meaning in the others words or even just their faces. "Who is she?" The Commander said in the same tone he'd used before, not expecting an answer he wanted to hear.

"That is not your concern." The man answered promptly, faint pauses between each word, almost as if he'd known the question was coming. He then immediately left the Commanders side, moving on towards the beast he had ridden here on.

The Commander stared blankly after him, soon following in his actions. He hopped back on his steed, along with the rest of the group, and instructed them to hit the road as fast as they were able. The horses cried out once given the order but complied nonetheless, setting off at a breathtaking pace as part of a developed instinct so as not to be punished by the more nasty riders.

The horse's hooves pounded rhythmically against the ground all the while, the yells of their riders rising high above, the scenery flashing by as they left the scorched town behind in the dust of their trails. They would never think back to this little town either. It was already nothing more than a memory and barely that. It, like everything else on earth, was history, the brunette girl being carried away on one of the horses to an unknown place being the only thing to testify that it had ever existed.

...

It was a bright day in the forest in which he, Dart, traveled. He was a youth with blue eyes, light but dirty skin, and dirty blonde hair which acted like anime hair in the fact it stuck up more than most men's and did not settle around the frame of his face, instead it kind of floated. It was rather like a choppy bob.

He wore a worn red chest plate with an emblem of a lion's head on it, a black shirt beneath it, grayed pants with a thick brown belt adorning them as a way to hold his sword sheath, matching red knee plates, a red headband, and a stretch of red armor down his left arm but not his right. His right, instead, had an incredibly thick glove that reached just below his elbow.

He was on his way back to his village after five years of absence. He had been searching for the person who had deprived him of his first home, where he was born and raised until the age of five. And now he rested, reading a note he had been given. "Chance of war more likely…" The young man of twenty three said to himself, crossing his arms over his chest and looked up to the sky. "I hope it's just a rumor." He stuffed the letter back in his pocket carelessly, jumping up from his spot on the fallen tree. He had to get back home soon. He had to see Shana again. He missed his baby sister.

He ran forward, eager to get where he was going. As he went he heard the sound of hooves pounding on the dirt path ahead. But as he came upon the path from which he was sure the sound was coming he found nothing. Still the beating of hooves. Just no creatures. So he slowed and looked about himself, observing everything.

Then, suddenly, there was a burst of noise. Two creatures akin to horses nearly ran over him, rising up in the air so that they stood almost like humans, neighing loudly. They startled the man as much as he startled them as he drew his sword out in protection. "Who are you?" One of the soldiers cried.

"Are you a mercenary of Basil!" The second bellowed, trying to get his horse back under control.

"Answer!" Demanded the first, pointing his own sword at the man.

Dart met swords with the soldier, daring him to mess with him.

"What are you doing! Are you drawing a sword against us!" The soldier was astonished by the notion, not really caring for an answer.

Just as Dart's lips parted to give an answer a terrifying roar echoed throughout the forest. "Wh- What is-" The two soldiers said in unison, not waiting for an answer. They sped away as fast as they could go.

Dart frowned lightly, confused by their sudden departure. But not for long. The trees parted, another roar erupting, and Dart swiftly turned about.

A fraction of a second later a gigantic beast appeared, a deadly look in its eyes.

Dart had never seen such a creature. It was at least thirty feet tall, with fangs sticking down at least five feet. For a moment he was frozen. "What the heck is this!" He cried out as if someone was there to tell him the answer.

His failure to move made him susceptible to an attack. The mighty beast roared and struck out with one of its arms, knocking Dart from side to side like a pinball.

Dart groaned, foolishly raising his sword to try and hit the monster back. But he was too slow. The monster hit him again before he could even think of stabbing the thing and the jab had the same effect as before. Dart's body ached from it and it nearly knocked him off his feet. "I gotta do something or I'll be killed!"

The monster used a different move this time. It snapped its head toward Dart to very well bite his head off. Fortunately the man was fast enough this time to avoid such a fate.

He then turned and ran through the forest to escape the wrath of the fearsome beast. Yet it didn't seem to be doing him any good. He always felt like it was but a foot away, and it was.

Being so large it was able to take one step and match every fifty of his. Dart could barely keep ahead. It didn't help that the monster was capable of knocking whole trees down at him, and did.

Dart had to use all of his skill to avoid them, sliding like a baseball player would to a base and rolling tactfully to the side in order to get well out of the way. But these moves did cost him time.

The monster struck at him while he was down on the ground, narrowly missing as Dart leapt forward and back on his feet. He was scared, breathing ragged. "This isn't working." He moaned, making sure to duck as the creature struck at him once more and halt himself as yet another tree was knocked into his path. "Damn!" he flipped himself over the fallen tree in a hurry, dropping fast and rolling forward some before getting back to his feet in hopes of losing his pursuer.

As he drew slightly farther ahead he couldn't help but stop to catch his breath and hold his side. "What a monster!" It had hurt him considerably without even trying. Was there any way he could best it?

The creature's footsteps shook the forest and Dart snapped to attention, turning about to face it despite the fact this was unimaginably foolhardy and guaranteed him death. "Here it comes!" He couldn't help talking to himself, drawing his sword, grip firm.

Still, even though he was intent upon facing the creature now, he found himself backing away as it grew closer. "This is bad." He swallowed hard, hands shaking around his sword.

The monsters screamed again and lunged at Dart.

The cry sent a shiver up Dart's spine and gave him a sudden burst of energy that made him swing his sword at him.

His sword grazed the creature's arm, eliciting a high pitched scream from it. And the pain only angered it further, driving him to lung at Dart with jaws open to bite him.

This gave Dart a real reason to jump back. He jumped pretty far too, just barely avoiding the beast's razor sharp fangs. But the swift movement combined with his injuries made him stumble.

The creature used Dart's loss of balance to swipe at him with his arm.

It hit him square in the chest, bringing him to his knees with a groan of pain. "No…" But he refused to give up. He couldn't die here. NO! He jumped back again, a pain hitting him at the action. He knew he was screwed over.

It was then that a petite woman jumped down from the cliff above, grabbing him around the waist and took him with her as she easily jumped behind a large rock.

"Who are you?" Dart started, staring blankly at her. She was really something to look at. Her dark black hair fell down to rest at hip level, her skin as pale as a ghost, and those black eyes seemed capable of piercing anyone's soul.

Her attire was that of a one-piece armor akin to a dress, the bottom being just below her butt and the shoulder plates cutting off only a few inches down her arm. The only thing separating it from being a dress was that her wear was much thicker. The color of the suit was a dark purple with gold designs of the sun, moon, and other various astrological signs on it and the same gold coloring served as an outline as well. And beneath her armor, with a blacker tint, she had gloves covering length of her arms, a black plate with gold outlining on the wrist and elbow to match the armor.

Dart also saw, as his eyes moved down her body, that she wore boots of an identical fashion, one acting as more of a leg guard seeing as it went up past her knee, while the other only just passed her ankle. And were those…cat ears on her head? Dart made a face. What a strange woman.

"Shh." She hissed, putting her hand across his mouth. "If you don't want to die." It was actually kind of funny regardless of the fact she was in no way joking.

The beast thrashed about a while longer, knocking chunks of rock down off the adjacent cliff and roaring menacingly as if to tell all that he was infuriated at having lost his prey. And with that the creature turned about and headed further into the dense forest in search of another victim.

Dart sighed with relief, rising back up into a standing position along with the woman before him. "Thanks for saving me." He murmured, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

She looked him over, a disapproving look in her eyes and a frown set on her face. She turned away from him and walked a few paces.

"What the heck was that!" Dart burst out, eager to understand what had just transpired.

She didn't move from her spot, unwilling to look at him, just caring enough to gratify his words with a response. "It's a dragon."

His eyes grew wide at the revelation and he found himself stepping forward a bit. "Dragon!"

She turned back about to face the man before her, hands on her hips and a bored expression playing across her face. "But it's strange." She paused, leaning back against the rock they hid behind, her gaze wandering away from him to look thoughtfully at the sky. "That village could've been easily destroyed without a dragon."

There was a sharp intake of breath on Dart's part. "The village…? Are you talking about Seles! Then those soldiers were-" He stopped abruptly.

"There won't be anything left by now." The woman said matter of factly, brushing her hair back out of her face with one smooth movement. She was indifferent to this person's distress. But it wasn't because she wanted to be that way. She had just forgotten how to care.

"Seles is my village!" It was then that he decided he'd had enough of this woman and her disregard of what appeared to be life in general. And despite his initial attraction couldn't bear the thought of being in her presence any more. He turned and kicked it into high gear, completely forgetting about his previous wounds and tiredness. All he could think about was his home and the fate of the people there, first and foremost Shana.

As he rushed off, the woman took her time in rising off the rock and slowly meandered toward the path to watch the quickly fading figure of the man before her. "Humph…" she breathed lightly. "Why do I wonder who he is…?" She frowned lightly at the thought, rolling her eyes at herself. She was ridiculous sometimes. But she supposed that's what came with wandering about for so long with no purpose.

She moved to turn away from the direction he had taken, thoughts of fighting the dragon becoming more profound, when something unbelievable caught her full attention. The ring that dangled from a string around her neck resonated a dark purple. She sucked in a breath, not having had this happen to her for too long. "Oh my god…" she spit out, taking the ring in her hand. "That man must be…no. There's no way."

Dart scaled the last hill, the lush grass brushing by him as he went, falling leaves riding on the wind, as dark clouds of what must have been smoke floated above him. It was this fact that scared him most, setting the mood in his mind as one of death and despair. When he reached the top this image was not far from reality. He froze. The town of Seles was scorched to the ground, all grass that had graced the place incinerated, the remaining buildings darker than the darkest heart, and an overall feeling of death gathered here as puffs of smoke billowed forth from the ruined landscape. "My God!" He instantly shot back into his run, breathing uneven as he grew closer and closer to Seles.

He skidded down the steep slope of the hill, coming to a stop as he was met with the fence. Of course this was no obstacle to him; he came and went this way so many times in his childhood. He easily flipped over the fence and into the town he had been missing all these years of leave.

Unfortunately it was not as happy as he would have wished. Once he was there he noticed two soldiers that he knew must be from the same group as the ones he encountered in the forest not long ago. And a familiar voice floated to him. "You didn't get enough killing?" It was one of the elder villagers.

A soldier laughed, voice mingling with a nearby crow. "It may be enough if I kill you!" He chirped sarcastically, allowing the other to come up and kick the poor man before stabbing his own sword through the defenseless villager.

"Stop!" Dart bellowed as he jumped out into plain sight and drew his sword to prepare for the inevitable fight ahead.

The soldier took a step forward, crossing his arms as he questioned skeptically. "Isn't it a bit late for you to show up?"

Dart didn't take kindly to the guys mentioning of his lateness, not bothering to hide the immense hate in his eyes and tone. "Shut up! What are you doing here?"

The same soldier cackled, saying, "Can't you see? We're gonna occupy this area, and these worms were in our way." He smiled deviously.

"What! Were you sent by the Imperial Army?" He exclaimed incredulously.

"Even if we were, it's none of your business." The soldier taunted like a child who had hidden something of great value just beneath another's nose. "Cause you're gonna die!" Both the men then charged toward him. But he was not afraid.

He almost eagerly awaited them, wanting nothing more than to get revenge on their sorry asses for doing to his town what had been done before. He did not want to relive it. He didn't even want to remember it. Yet he was forced to. So he did so in the best way.

The first lunged at him, cutting his sword through the air with fury.

But that's all he got because Dart was beyond fast compared to the both of them. Not only that, but he had much more to be fighting for.

The other soldier quickly followed suit, only with a much more undesirable outcome.

Dart didn't bother dodging, he threw himself at the soldier, jabbing his sword deep into the enemy's chest. Not only that, but he also made it a necessity to twist his sword in the man's gut before wrenching it out.

The soldier let out a strangled gasp, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, before he collapsed and died near instantly.

Dart was breathing heavy despite the lack of energy exerted, his hands gripped tightly about his weapon as he leaned forward slightly in a position to strike if the need arise once again. It only made him look more fearsome the way his eyes burned with a violent passion and his mouth curved down into a deep snarl.

The remaining soldier took one tentative look at his fallen comrade and another at the man responsible before he knew what must be done. He turned heel and ran like the devil himself was at his feet.

Dart continued to breathe irregularly even after the brute ran off with his tail between his legs. He was just so pissed. "YEAH! You better run!" He yelled after the so called soldier, sighing deeply before re-sheathing his stained sword.

After he no longer held the weight of the sword in his hand he raised his head to the sky and squeezed his eyes shut tight. What was going on? Why was this happening? Why him and his village? Hadn't he suffered enough at the hands of fate?

He lingered but a moment on such thoughts as he knew he must act in the moment if he were to understand any of this. And the villagers would surely know. Not only that, but he also just needed to make sure they were ok, namely the one those punks had been picking on. "Jay!" Dart cried, kneeling at Jay's side to inspect his injuries. "Are you ok?" Dart pressed.

"Are…are you…really…Dart…?" Jay squeezed out, coughing out blood soon after.

"Yes! It's me!" Dart sighed, running his fingers through his hair from half relief of him being alright for now and half despair of knowing that much like this town Jay too would be dead. "What's happened to this place?" Dart was still in a bit of a frenzy and sounded more demanding then he intended to be.

"War…Imperial Sandora…attacked us." Another stream of coughs issued forth. He was close now.

"What about the truce!" Dart yelled, hands shaking from fury. "God! They're nothing but a bunch of brutes!"

"Yeah, suddenly…I didn't imagine…they could come….to such an…outlying area." His breathing was getting shallower with every word that passed his lips. He was fading. He was getting farther from Dart. He would not have much time to get the information he desperately needed.

Dart lowered his head, shaking it from side to side, ashamed. "If only I'd come back sooner." He completely blamed himself for the fate of his home, just like he did the last time. It hadn't mattered that he was five. He felt he could have and should have prevented the catastrophe.

"There is something, you have to do…Shana. Rescue Shana…only you…can…" his body went limp in Darts arms, taking the mystery of Shana with him.

"Hey! Wait! What about Shana? What happened!" Dart screamed, shaking the dead man back and forth. It was hopeless. He let loose an aggravated sigh, standing back up and shaking his head in confusion and somewhat hurt. He had loved everyone in this village and just the thought of any one of them dead stung. He couldn't linger like this much longer though. He had to see if anyone else knew of poor Shana's fate.

Dart hurried on deeper into town, looking desperately about himself for any sign of life, or more some movement. His heart skipped a beat as he glimpsed a man lying face down on the desert ground. It only increased his anticipation when he swore he saw a flicker of movement. "Plos!" Dart rushed over to the man's side, shaking him roughly. "Hang on!" He was not dead. Not yet. Dart simply would not believe this impossibility.

"Ahh…" the old man, Plos, groaned as he slowly got up into a weak standing position. "That voice. Is that you Dart?" His voice was coarse and weak, barely audible.

Dart smiled slightly, glad to see someone whose life hadn't been shattered into millions of pieces so small no one could hope to pick them up and glue them together again. "This way." He motioned toward what remained of a scorched building. It had been Shana's. Dart could never forget the place he'd visited so many times over the past eighteen years.

Plos allowed Dart to lead him over to the building as well as aid him in sitting down. It still hurt him, but not to as large a degree as it would have without the assistance Dart so willingly gave to him. He wanted to thank him only he couldn't find his voice. So he was left to silence as Dart looked him over.

"It's just a light wound." Dart sighed with relief, smile widening a smidgen.

Plos chuckled half-heartedly. "I guess…I was lucky." he muttered, looking away from the face of the youth before him to see the full horror the town had become. "But look at this village." he waved his hand about in small circles as if to guide Dart's vision. "If only you came back earlier…" he added miserably, unknowingly making Dart's guilt grow.

Dart stared blankly at the old man, the grim reality of it all becoming more unbearable once it was spoken, hitting the clean air like a deadly toxin. He sighed lightly, raising into a standing position as he tried to overcome the gripping pain that grasped him, shaking his head slowly back and forth all the while.

Plos cleared his throat, coughing. "It's about Shana, too." he squeezed out, scratching at his throat as if doing so might free his lungs and allow the words he so desperately needed to say to spill forth into the atmosphere.

Dart snapped his head to attention, eyes widening tenfold with unbridled shock and immense urgency. "What's wrong with Shana?" He demanded thrusting his arms forward, fists clenched tight. He needed to know this. It was not just a simple matter of ignorance, he **needed** it.

Plos took in a deep breath. "She was taken away." He swallowed hard. "It seems Shana was their primary purpose." He continued coughing as the feeble words passed his chapped lips. As he said it it felt like a great burden had been lifted from his chest. He hadn't realized this fact had such a hold on him. Already he felt more able to breathe, his chest's tightness letting go.

Each word that passed the man's lips brought Dart closer and closer to insanity. He didn't want to imagine where she had been taken or even why. All he knew was that he in no way understood this. Sure she was important to him, she was his baby sister. But what was she to them, or anyone else for that matter? Was she not an ordinary eighteen year old girl? "Do you know where they went?" Dart yelped, nails digging so deep into his own skin due to the panic quickly snaking its way through his being that he was drawing blood. It only added to the sense of despair as the sound of crows cawing found its way to his ears. He shuddered.

Plos hesitated upon answering. He was afraid that Dart would lose it with no further clue to the whereabouts of his dear sister. Yet in the end he gave Dart the answer he knew was the last he wanted to hear. "I...don't know." He sighed, flinching as his wound acted up on him, stinging.

Dart would have pursued the topic further if not for the sudden change. He didn't fully realize what the change was, but the crows did. They issued one final call before the sound of their many feathered wings filled the air, quickly falling back into bone chilling silence that had engulfed the rattled youth. They were no longer alone. The crows told all.

Dart swirled around as the faint sound of footsteps reached him. And he soon saw another, more heavily armored, soldier approaching him with his sword in hand. "I'll make him talk!" Dart cried half to Plos and half to himself.

The man wore silver armor with red designs of a snake covering the surface sporadically over his body. It made his stomach stick out more as well as gave his whole body a more bulky look.

Dart was quick to unsheathe his blood ridden sword, knowing that there was no way this wouldn't end in a fight.

The commander snorted conceitedly at Dart's swiftness to take up arms against him. "Besting a private is no reason to be confident." He informed him superciliously, smiling wickedly beneath his head gear.

Dart growled angrily, pointing his sword threateningly at the commander. "Where did you take Shana?" He snarled, the fire which had remained ever present in his eyes throughout this ordeal turning to a blaze.

The commander laughed coldly. "Shana...?" He thought the name over, giving the man before him time to grow further infuriated, before he truly answered. "Don't worry about her. She must be receiving the courtesies of Hellena Prison by now."

Dart started, sucking in a sharp breath. "Hellena!" He burst out, gripping his sword tighter.

Dart's surprise made his grin spread further across him smug face. "Surprised, huh?" He chuckled darkly. "We specifically invited only that woman."

This drew another gasp from Dart's lips. This was growing more and more ridiculous by the moment. "You must be kidding! You attacked the village only to kidnap Shana!" His temper was rising faster than a speeding bullet now.

He nodded faintly. "Exactly." He readied his own weapon. "But don't worry. I will let you follow them. Although not to Hellena." He swung his sword about himself as more of a fancy trick than to show Dart he should be afraid. "To 'Hell'!" And he lunged forward.

Dart jumped back, the sword grazing his red armor. But he was not deterred.

"What's the matter? Are you some kind of coward!" The commander taunted, lashing out in a straight line aimed for Dart's heart.

The man's words angered Dart further as he leapt away again, hating the action for what he knew it was, cowardice. But Dart knew the man was nothing. All he had to do was prove it.

Dart charged forward, sword at the ready, and struck at his chest. It was heavily plated and his blow did little to nothing, leaving Dart open for an attack on the enemy's part which he willing took.

The commander struck out for Darts' arm. For how was Dart to fight without limbs?

Dart dodged to his right, striking at his chest for a second time. No good.

He was able to block the attack completely.

It was like they were playing a game of arm wrestling, only with swords. Whichever one of them was capable of pushing the others sword back would surely be victorious. "Come on, little man."

This time Dart hit him in such a way that he was able to penetrate his armor and dive his sword deep into his chest. And, as far as Darts' personal belief goes, he figured it was his immense hate of being jeered on that allowed him the means to do so.

He moaned and groaned, falling to his knees. He dropped his sword, shaking slightly.

Dart nodded firmly, knowing that this would be the outcome. "No. Don't **you** get cocky." This win gave him a sense of satisfaction. Yet he was not pleased enough. He had to do one last move of kicking him down on his side. It was cruel, he knew, but he couldn't stop himself. It was his way of avenging Seles and all the lives lost in this needless fight. He turned back to Plos. "I did it." Dart sighed.

"Dart, you are going to rescue Shana…aren't you?" Plos asked with worry and a twinge of hope.

Dart didn't hesitate a fraction of a second in answering. He nodded firmly.

Plos sighed. "I won't stop you, but please, be careful." He paused so he could resituate himself against the charred building behind him. "Besides….your journey isn't over yet, is it?" Plos had been wondering this all along. He only asked now because he knew he would get no other chance.

Dart stepped forward toward the old man. "…No." he admitted, shrugging slightly.

Plos smiled wanly. "Ok." He paused, taking in Dart's expression. "You can count on us about Seles." He reassured the obviously uncertain youth. "There should be enough people who can still move."

Dart's expression brightened considerably, a content smile taking the place of his grimace and a light coming to his once dull and angered eyes.

"Thank you." He sighed in relief. "When I settle everything, I'll be back." Dart nodded firmly, turning away from the man with a new found confidence. A little ways away he stopped mid-step, saying, "With Shana." He clenched his fists in determination before heading back out for good.

He left Seles with no fear at all in his heart. He didn't have time for fear. All he could think about was the girl held captive in the place called Hellena. It sounded like a god awful place. But he could not say for sure. He had never been there, only heard of it. The rumors flew all around about it, saying that few souls ever exited once they were dragged in and the few that did manage to escape were forever scarred. They never had another restful night for the rest of their sane lives, soon after losing their mind thinking that any moment the monsters that ran the place would come after them again, seeking to rid them of their pathetic lives.

But no one is really sure of any of this. At least Dart isn't. It's because he doesn't want to believe it, especially not now with Shana there. Before he would've said his disbelief was due to the absurdity of the whole idea, but now it was nothing more than blind fear. Perhaps he was going crazy…maybe. But he preferred to think he was merely in love. Not the love of a married couple or even a boyfriend, just the love of a brother who couldn't stand to lose his sister.

...

Far away, in a fortress like castle sitting on the precipice of a desolate land mass surrounded by the ocean, the young girl Dart so desperately chased after was being treated to Hellena Prison. A guard followed her into a cell which was only for the most important guests. It wasn't because it was decorated better, it had the same dull stone walls and floor, cobwebs in every corner, rats hiding in crevices, one simple rag sheet bed, and a dim candle sitting on a table. It wasn't even because those suited for this room would be treated better, because they weren't. This cell was specifically made to hold those that were to not be killed and as such guarded heavily. She moved slowly, inch by inch, closer to the bunk.

Her pace was, however, to slow for the guard. He had other things to do and thus jabbed her in the back with the blunt end of his spear. She fell to the floor a foot ahead just as he wanted her to. He was so satisfied with himself that he even smirked darkly before turning about to head out the door. "Be good in there!" he barked an instant before the cold bars of the cell door clanged shut, a loud ringing noise following.

Once the girl was sure the man was well away she couldn't hide her weakness any longer. The sobs she'd held back the whole time since she'd regained consciousness finally escaped her, racking her body with severe convulsions. It didn't take much longer for the tears to catch up with the other symptoms of defeat. Tears soon began running from her eyes down her perfect cream colored skin onto the chafed, dirty flooring.

No more than five minutes later there was a pool of tears collected in between her hands in which she could stare. She whimpered at the sight, barely recognizing this girl who looked back at her in the water. Her reflection had changed drastically just in the time she'd left her home. Her brown hair was frizzled and a complete mess, skin not as perfect as she remembered due to the accumulated dirt and grime, and eyes glazed over so that life was practically void, nonexistent even.

She refused to look any more after that, so instead she allowed herself to crumple further into herself. She pressed her forehead onto the foundation, the hot tears making her face flush lightly but nothing more. She continued to cry, sob, moan, wail, and shake as previously. And that's where she stayed, position and all, for hours to come. Only one thought was profound enough to breach her shattered state of mind. This thought was whether or not she'd make it out of here alive to see Dart, for she missed him dearly, and to never see him again would be a fate worse than death. She needed this…she needed him.

Elsewhere, on a wooden walkway, an enormous man wearing heavy armor, a gold helmet with spikes sticking up, bulging gold and red chest wear with spikes protruding from the shoulders, unusually large leg protectors of matching color and a glorious blue cape adorned with gold embroidery stood before the man in the black and silver hood. "Who the heck is the girl?" He barked gruffly, coming off as someone far past their prime. "You can tell me!" He assured the stranger, nodding as best he could in his heavy armor.

The hooded man stared blankly up at him much like he had at the Commander the night before. Still he was void of emotion, indifferent to this whole situation. He licked his lips slowly before sighing lightly. "The world's future rests on her." He said in a flat tone, expecting an outburst from the brutal leader of the Sandora's, especially since, after all, he had no problem shedding blood of his own men.

"That's it!" The large man, Fruegel they called him, cried exasperatedly.

"This is enough information for you." The hooded man replied coolly, brushing his hair back out of his eyes. "Those of you who do not grasp the value should just do what the order says." his eyes gleamed with smugness, the only sign of feeling he'd shown in so long.

"I'm not taking your orders!" Fruegel snapped, fists quaking no thanks to his low tolerance for resistance towards him and his acquisitions. "Only his Majesty Doel can order me!"

"Anyway…you must remember this." There was a pause as the hooded man looked the other over before he made a swift move to unsheathe his sword at his side to threaten Fruegel.

Fruegel was surprised enough so that he stepped back quickly and tripped, falling on his butt due to the sudden shift of weight. He growled at this unexpected fall, eyes narrowed and mouth curved into a deep frown beneath his thick armor.

"If you make a scratch on her, it'll cost more than your head." There was a brief pause as he contemplated whether it mattered to say who exactly was commanding this. "This is a message from Emperor Doel." The hooded man added in his usual cool voice, putting his sword back in its sheath.

Fruegel groaned lightly as he raised back up to his feet, rubbing his head lightly in the process. It wasn't that he was hurt, just pissed that this tiny, unknown man was able to control him without even trying and rubbing his head was in a way a technique to help with anger. Or at least someone had told him so. Although it in no way helped to the extent he needed it to. So to make sure he'd only do one stupid thing in reaction to this shift of power he, after turning on his heel and heading off of the bridge, knocked a guard standing at the edge of the unstable ground over the edge to fall to his death. The man's scream followed immediately after, echoing through the fortress long after his body disappeared from view.

Fruegel sighed heavily after the act was committed, already feeling better about being able to control the life of another. He didn't give a damn whether he had been on his side, in fact, him being with him made this control all the sweeter. Now all he had to worry about was keeping him and everyone else from killing the girl up in one of the highest cells. That's all that mattered anymore.

...

The journey would be a dangerous one, he knew, but he couldn't just give up on her. His baby sister meant more to him than anything in the entirety of this god forsaken world. This is what he told himself as he first entered the forest he'd played in many times as a kid. It was just the way he remembered too. Not a tree, rock, or life form had been eradicated.

He smiled faintly at the familiarity, a squirrel catching his eye. It fussed over him a minute before scurrying off up the next tree. He chuckled lightly at the creature, staring at where it disappeared in to the tree leaves for a moment before snapping back to attention. He had a job to do! He couldn't be slacking off! Shana's life depended on him!

Dart hurried down the dirt path of the forest, kicking up dust as he went and disturbing the very peace of nature as he made such irritating noises. Dogs barked in reaction, squirrels chattered, the wind howled, and there was even the occasional growl of a bear.

Dart might have stopped to fight the bear if this were any other point in time, but he had other, more urgent, things to do. He had to save Shana.

The grass which had bordered the dirt and thus created the path thinned out the farther he ran into the depths of the forest until, up at a fallen log, it completely vanished. Now he had to use nothing more than memory to find his way through the ever thickening forest. But this was no problem.

He knew the way through this place like the directions were written into his mind. So after he climbed the fallen tree up to a slightly more elevated area he turned to his left and wandered knowingly into an area thick with brush.

He pushed through the first pocket of it with only slight difficulty since it was the least overgrown and came out onto a short path that led him into another pack of brush.

He instantly dropped down to his knees upon reaching it, hoping that after five years his old trick would still be useful. And it was. Along the bottom remained a decently sized space of near emptiness. Granted it wasn't as easy as before due to his size, but he still managed.

It took about five minutes for him to find his way through this one and so when he breached the exit he heaved a heavy sigh having felt rather claustrophobic underneath the brush.

The dirt accumulated didn't bother him a bit. He simply rose to his feet and brushed what he could off of himself before heading toward what he knew would be the last obstacle and undoubtedly the most annoying.

He'd loved this patch as a kid because he felt it was a test of his smarts and strength, but now his sentiments were no longer the same. It didn't help that the situation was so drastic.

Ultimately it was the thought of Shana being hurt that made the task seem more difficult than it was. He felt as if every bit of the prickly piece of nature was fighting hard against him. Even the little scratches that resulted from his urgency to get through felt more painful.

"Damn it…" Dart muttered in a strained voice as a part of the brush slung back into place and hit him square in the face. But he refused to let an inanimate object beat him, a full grown man.

Eventually he pried his way through the mass of brambles and brush, insignificant scratches on his face. Now that that was done he could move on to the easier parts of this forest.

He trekked down a steep slope until he came upon another log which led down instead of up.

He didn't slow as he headed down the oddly slanted tree, but he did take in the fact that two limbs above him from trees opposite each other reached just far enough to give the illusion of them being connected as he spread his arms out on both sides to keep his balance. It was but a moment before he came to the trees end and jumped down the remaining distance, landing perfectly.

As he rose up and went to jolt into a run again a beast jumped out from between two trees, barking wildly.

Darted started slightly, leaning back, before realizing it was nothing more than a wild dog. "I have no time to deal with you!" Dart barked back, shooing the creature off with more anger than was necessary.

The less than frightening creature cowered pitifully before turning and scampering away in the direction it had come.

"That reminds me…" Dart murmured thoughtfully, turning to face where he'd just come from as he flashed back to a moment years upon years ago to a similar situation in a newer version of this very spot.

The trees which lined the dirt path were greener and there was still some grass to show the way as well where he and his sister, Shana, played. They were headed to one of Shana's secret spots, a new one, and Dart was lagging slightly. "Wait!"

"This way! This way!" Shana giggled with exuberance as she turned about to face her slow brother, waving her hands in the air before zipping back around and racing down the fallen tree bridge.

Once at the bottom she was instantly jumped by a wild dog which barked loudly at her and came increasingly closer as it bared its teeth.

Shana let out a terrified shriek, dropping down into a crouching position as she gripped her head tightly and shook in shear fear.

Dart's brotherly instinct kicked in and he was quick to jump from his position on the tree down in front of Shana in order to create a barrier of the sorts. He even spread his arms out wide. "Cut it out! Leave Shana alone!" he ordered in his ten year old voice.

The image faded back into the recesses of his mind as he continued to stare. "Leave Shana alone…" he repeated in a much softer tone. He hung his head slightly. Shana. His fists clenched at the thought of her. "Hang in there. I'll get you out of there." He did a fist pump and then sprang forward.

He was on the last stretch of the forest where it basically ceased to be a forest. The trees were few and far between and the grass had returned to aid him in keeping a course. Not that he needed it. Still, he followed the long winding dirt path all the way until he exited the familiar place and found himself out on a long stretch of flat terrain which he'd rarely ever been around.

Still, he'd been across this particular stretch of land enough to know which direction Hellena was in and that it would take approximately two days to get there if he didn't stop at all. And he wouldn't. He had to get there before anything happened to her.

If he didn't…he'd never forgive himself.


	2. Hellena Prison

Dawn was breaking as Dart approached the outskirts of the prison known as Hellena. It looked particularly dreary and ominous today too. The way the background so heavily contrasted the dark jail with its blends of bright colors like orange, yellow, and red obviously played a part in the effect. And even though the colors dulled the higher they reached until the sky was dark blue with a few stars scattered about it made no difference. In fact, the irony of it made it worse.

Still, despite the overall dead look of the surroundings, barren trees, colorless rock path and rock formations, and skulls littering the path, the prison seemed oddly alive to Dart. Smoke billowed out from every pore of Hellena and countless lights burned brightly in the early hours of the day.

Dart stopped a few steps forward, crossing his arms over his chest and furrowed his brow as he took everything in. "Well…how can I sneak in?" He tapped his foot rhythmically on the ground as he mulled it over.

His thought process was interrupted suddenly by the sound of what Dart perceived to be a rickety cart. And as he swirled around as more of an instinct than anything he was proved right. This also meant that he needed to get out of the way- and fast.

Dart bolted from the middle of the road to the only place that could conceal him, behind a decent sized rock formation. From there he watched the slow going cart come toward him and then continue on away from him without noticing his presence.

Once Dart was sure there was no chance of the horse drawn supply cart turning about and spotting him and came out from behind his hiding spot. He stared for a moment more then, the cart fading, before he finally snapped out of his slight daze and chased after the cart.

The cart was stopped at the gate by one of the many gatekeepers of Hellena. After all, they wouldn't want a break in. "I see." He nodded faintly. "Good meat and fish. Sir Fruegel will be happy."

"You bought a lot recently. Is there something going on?" The merchant asked out of natural curiosity, not thinking that such curiosity could be dangerous.

The gatekeeper instantly grew defensive, gripping his spear tighter as well as thrust it toward the defenseless merchant as a threat. "It's not the business of a merchant like you!" He spat, daring the merchant to pry further. He could use a good excuse to kill someone.

The merchants' eyes grew wide as baseballs and he drew back from the sharp weapon being pointed at him. "Okay! Okay!" He put his hands in front of him, waving them slightly, as a sign of defeat.

Dart was now at the back of the cart, peeking curiously around the corner at the soldier. He was clad in dulled yellow armor with thick black stripes covering it. The stripes were equally spaced from each other for the most part, surprising Dart with the organized nature.

The gatekeeper sighed. "I'll inspect the load!" He informed the merchant as if he really cared when really he was unknowingly alerting Dart to his plans and thus giving him time to avoid his prying eyes.

Dart was quick to react and moved himself over to the side of the cart, hoping with all his heart that the gatekeeper would be stupid and not bother looking where he was because of the fact that no cargo would be over there.

The gatekeeper took his time in finding his way to the back of the cart where he could peer into the piles of food and gear. He took an equal amount of time in inspecting the load, going through every bit of the goods so that he was extra sure there was nothing being concealed from him. "Hmm…"

Dart's heart beat rapidly in his chest as he held his breath and clenched his hands into tight fists in fear mingled with anticipation.

The gatekeeper shrugged. "It seems to be ok." He walked back up to his post, yelling, "Lower the bridge!"

That was Dart's cue. He ran back to the back of the cart and leapt up into the cargo, the sound of the creaky old bridge irritating his ears as he kept himself low and still all the while. Just in case.

Dart rode the bumpy cart all the way into the fortress until it came to a complete stop in what Dart thought to be a room specifically meant for keeping the horses and goods. From what he saw in his position, the rest was a bunch of empty space. However, there was obviously much more to be explored.

Dart hopped out of the cargo hold, looking up to see a small bridge that stretched across the room and surely lead somewhere worthwhile. The only problem was he wasn't entirely sure it would be worthwhile for him. After all, all he wanted was Shana.

"Now…" he murmured, walking slowly forward toward one of the two doorways.

Unfortunately the merchant had been at the exit he had chosen and was quick to think that Dart was an enemy. "Who-Who are you?" He stuttered, shaking in his boots.

"I'm discovered." Dart hissed annoyedly at himself and his stupid carelessness.

The merchant turned heel and ran without another second, off in search of protection.

"Wait!" Dart tried to call after him, reaching an arm out as if this would draw the merchant back toward him when it would clearly do no such thing.

Once Dart saw he'd failed he soon lowered his arm back to his side, sighing with irritation.

"This way!" A voice, the merchant, cried as he led a soldier over to where Dart still stood planted.

The soldier brought his spear up to fend off Dart without a second thought.

Dart had hoped to avoid conflict, but he was not opposed to killing someone who prevented him from reaching his precious sister Shana. So he too drew his sword from its sheath, holding it at the ready.

The soldier willingly took the first strike, shoving his spear in the direction of Dart's stomach.

Dart wasn't the most agile fellow out there, but he'd learned enough from Shana to be able to flip backwards on his hands and then again to land perfectly on his feet a way back. And he did all this with his sword still in hand.

The soldier was rather shocked by Dart's trick, staring a moment before lunging at the youth again and aiming for the same spot.

Dart would have performed the same trick if this had been a random, pointless battle, but considering what he was fighting for he wanted to end this quick. So he waited patiently for the fool to come within range and ruthlessly cut his sword through the air at about shoulder height, lobbing his head clean off.

Dart had never done something like this before and the sight was quite gruesome, even making him cringe slightly.

The enemy's head skid across the floor a ways, the blood coming from the wound making a trail. What really put the icing on the cake was the fact that the man's headless body remained standing and even moved his hand for a moment before crumpling to the floor in a quickly growing pool of his own blood.

The merchant stared on wide eyed, trembling uncontrollably. "He-Help!" He cried hopelessly, fearful of what the man before him might do if he truly attempted to get another guards attention.

Dart looked blankly at him.

"I-I'm just a merchant…" he reasoned, clasping his hands together in silent prayer.

Dart rolled his eyes, returning his bloody sword back to its place at his side. "Be quiet." Dart growled. "I am not going to kill you."

The merchant let out a heavy sigh of relief. "O-Okay." He smiled stupidly from nothing more than happiness. "I won't make a noise!" He assured, turning his attention back to the older goods stacked against the wall nearest him.

As Dart moved up the few stairs of the storage room and headed out of the door he realized something. This place may have been a prison and meant to be like a home of the sorts, minus the comfort of course, but it appeared like that of a cave.

It hadn't hit him before, but the doors were much larger than normal ones. They were large oval shaped openings and there really wasn't a door to open. Not only that but the faded yellow orange look of the walls and floor, along with the bumpy texture the aforementioned things had made it hard to believe any of it was man made. And for all he knew, it wasn't.

Dart perked as he stood in the doorway, catching movement out of the corner of his eye. It was another soldier with that uniform. It must be a team thing.

Knowing that he didn't want or need to be spotted again he ran the opposite direction in order to stay away.

Once he rounded the corner he was forced to come to a speedy stop as he sighted yet another soldier. "Damn it…" he hissed, scrambling backwards and heading toward the only direction left open to him.

There was a set of winding stairs leading up further into the desolate fortress which flattened out shortly after to a slightly upward slope. At the end of the flat path there was another guard who stood just left of a ladder.

Dart growled lightly under his breath, scowling intensely over at the densely unaware guard. This would be easy enough. He just had to wait a minute until he turned the other direction.

The soldier bobbed his head side to side as he watched the only direction anyone would come from. However he could not keep himself from looking away from the path down into the wide gaping hole which gave a near perfect view down to the lower level. He saw another fellow soldier doing his routine rounds and he saw some captives being lead along to no doubt be turned into feed.

Dart grinned wickedly, moving stealthily over to and up the ladder where two torches bordered. From there he walked across a fairly stable red brick bridge, the only part so far that was not that dull yellow. And it also seemed to be one of the few things with a man-made feel to it. Not even the path beneath this bridge looked the same.

Right after the bridge there was yet another flight of stairs which led further up into the air. Dart had to wonder how high this place reached and if there was any hope of finding his sister, this single person, in such a place.

Once the winding stairs ended Dart found himself in a more open area. He stood on a grayed platform, torches set on both sides of where he stood. There was a rickety bridge leading to another similar platform with an opening like all the ones he'd seen and a lift of the sorts which went only up. Dart saw it didn't go much further up though because the large rock formations which were the support for practically the whole fortress ended a ways up.

Dart looked on in awe of the fortress, walking slowly on over the wobbly bridge without paying a lick of attention to where he was putting his feet down. He even miss-stepped near the end and lurched downward, gripping onto the individual planks which made up the walkway because of the spaces between each set.

Dart scrambled back up to his feet, sighing heavily and lowering his head as his heart beat hurriedly in his chest.

The fall was a sure sign that he needed to focus or someone would get hurt, so he listened to this sign as well as the voice in his head screaming at him to stop being an idiot. Mostly it was the fact he feared Shana being hurt that drove him more so than his own life.

He walked through the opening into a closed off area swarming with guards. But honestly it looked like they were slaking off in here more than anything. It was like the break room for guards.

Dart spied a few boxes of something or another around the room as he looked on, but since there was obviously no holding cell in here there was no reason for him to go into the enemy's hands. He'd just look somewhere else.

Dart backtracked out to the lift. It was man operated, obviously. So he'd have to exert more effort if he wished to get higher up in this god forsaken jail. So he did. He stepped into the tiny lift and pulled and pulled on the rope connected to something above him and wrapped around the opposite end of this device to create a rather useful machine.

Dart was up a level in a matter of minutes, being sure to tie the rope off on the poorly constructed rails so that it would not go back down to the lower floor, leaving him stranded. Then he looked about himself for his next course of action.

"Well…" There wasn't another lift. It was probably already up on a higher level. There was an opening though. Dart ran through it and into a place like nothing he'd ever seen.

The usual yellow floor or unstable footing had changed to that of brick which had no spaces in between each one. The jail cells too were made of the same brick, and there were actually doors too. They were thick bars made for holding things in and keeping everyone else out. And as awful as it sounds Dart was rather impressed with the craftsmanship. The archways jutting out away from the bar doors were quite nice.

Then there was a voice!

"Move quicker!" Dart heard, snapping to attention and jerking his head in the general direction.

Down the way there were two wardens, one yelling at a pair of prisoners who wore gray and blue armor, the sign they were from Basil, and had their hands tied behind their backs. "I said move quicker!" He jabbed the prisoner closest to him lightly with his spear because he could.

The prisoner groaned softly not from the pain of this jab in particular, but because the hit had struck a more severe wound from earlier.

The warden with the other burst out laughing. "You have such bad luck!" He taunted. "You will regret not being killed on the battlefield!"

Both of the captured knights felt their bodies stiffen and their hearts skip a beat at this. Only one was willing enough to speak the forbidden question. "What do you mean?" He mumbled shakily.

"HA!" Both the wardens burst out.

The warden up front walked forward some, hands behind his back as he looked up to the ceiling. "Ha…" he muttered. "You really believe you can live comfortably in the jail?" He shook his head in disbelief, smirking sinisterly. "The head warden, Fruegel will feed you to the monster!"

One of the Basil soldiers panicked and jumped forward as if to run past the guard ahead.

The warden was much too fast for him and swirled around just in time to stick his spear an inch in front of the foolish knight.

The knight yelped sharply, stepping back into line so as to avoid any torture the warden might want to dish out on him.

The knight who had remained in his spot was so bold as to press the matter as well as to defy his captures. "Feed us to the monsters!" He quaked in anger as his partner did so in terror. "I won't let you humiliate us anymore!" He growled.

The warden at the rear chuckled with amusement. "Oh, feisty, feisty. It's the worst kind of POW but the best kind of feed."

This angered the already mad prisoner more. "If you want to kill me, kill me now!" He insisted, getting up into the face of the warden behind him. He refused to be a part of this sick game of war any longer.

"Hmm…" the warden pondered the idea, not having killed a prisoner with his own hands in a while now. It would be a nice change.

"I won't let him!" A voice screamed from ahead of them, the dead body of a Hellena warden flying through the air and landing at their feet instantly after.

The two wardens jumped, the front one spinning around to see with his own eyes who could have caused such a ruckus.

Out from the shadows burst a man clad in unique armor, his eyes ablaze as he spun his spear expertly in his hands before pointing it toward his enemies.

He wore a chest plate, thick armlets, and knee and leg armor all of silver coloring and strange brown colored designs. The chest was the most noticeable, with its heart shaped v and tiny spears branching out from the center as well as a collection of thick curved lines. Beneath his armor, of what was visible, was forest green clothing that appeared to Dart specifically made for battle.

"Sir Lavitz!" Both the knights cried in unison, their faces lighting at the sight of him, the head of their group.

Both wardens were shocked at the appearance of the man, only the front one able to react. "You-You bastard!" He spat, lifting his spear threateningly at the man. "You broke out of jail!"

The warden in the back finally snapped to it, mirroring his partner in actions. "Silly guy! You think you can escape from here alone!" He scoffed.

The front warden jumped on Lavitz then, bringing his spear down vertically on him.

Lavitz instinctively lifted his own spear up horizontally to hold off the others spear with a slight struggle. "I'll take care of this!" Lavitz yelled to the other knights. "Survive and go back to Indels Castle alive! Tell King Albert…!" He ordered.

The knights didn't hesitate a fraction of a second in following his command, both turning heel and running for all it was worth.

But the brasher one couldn't go without exacting a little revenge of the sorts and, as the free warden headed at them, head-butted the guy in the jaw. It knocked the man clean off his feet.

This grabbed the attention of the guard he was in a stalemate with and gave him an easy opportunity to push his spear back and jab him straight through the heart.

"I won't let you!" Cried the warden on the ground as he snatched up his whistle and blew on it hard.

Another warden came rushing in their direction and met up with the two fleeing knights at the short bridge connecting one side of the jail to the other.

The knights hurried to stop and run the other way, but they were too slow.

The warden kept rushing at them and carelessly shoved each one over the edge of the bridge, their bloodcurdling screams as they plummeted to their deaths making him laugh with pleasure. "I took care of those guys!" He yelled to the others with a sense of accomplishment, waving his arm back and forth in case they did not hear.

"You bastards!" Lavitz screamed, rushing over to the warden nearest him so he could spill his blood in revenge.

The warden struck out at Lavitz as he came within range, not intending to hit.

Lavitz jumped to the side, proving his theory.

The warden then sweep kicked him, landing him flat on his butt and open for an attack which he took. He slammed his spear down where Lavitz sat.

Lavitz inwardly scolded himself fir his lack of anticipation as he shoved himself underneath the wardens spread legs, narrowly avoiding the spear as well as gave himself the perfect strike. He jumped to his feet before the warden could register what was going on and struck him down the stretch of his back.

The warden collapsed to his knees before falling completely over, coughing up blood all the while.

Dart didn't know what did it, but he finally rushed forward onto the scene. "Is this civil war!" He exclaimed in confusion, looking hurriedly about him as if the clues lay somewhere just within his vision.

Lavitz noticed Dart in the way one would notice someone walking by them on the road, but he was uninterested for the moment. He was more concerned with those he knew to be enemies and as such charged on past the youth, locking spears with the warden who'd killed his knights.

Dart was opening his mouth to say something that he himself wasn't completely sure of when the clank of metal on the floor caught his attention and had him spinning about, sword brought out in front of him, to face another warden.

"You! Who are you!" The warden up against Dart demanded, spear at the ready. "Are you a dog of Basil too!"

Lavitz was busy backing the other warden into a corner as Dart was hit with a barrage of questions.

When Dart did not reply the warden grew infuriated and took a swing at the youth's head.

Dart dropped down into a crouch, scowling menacingly up at the warden before springing back up into a standing position and slicing him across his stomach.

Lavitz was a bit slower going. His first strike failed to make contact, the warden jumping back as far as he could so that he was completely backed against the wall.

The warden knew he was in deep trouble and it didn't help he had no real arm room to maneuver his weapon.

Lavitz saw the fear in the man's eyes as he jabbed every which way, to the left, right, and dead center of his head.

The warden slimly avoided all hits by leaning to the opposite side or ducking.

But Lavitz finally struck a hard blow to the chest when his anger level began to rise and his speed naturally increased.

As he finished him off another one came running, catching him off guard.

Lavitz was dealt a blow to the chest which knocked him back a step, but otherwise did nothing thanks to his armor which far surpassed theirs.

When Lavitz regained his footing he delivered a quick blow to the man's legs and then, once flat on the ground, all the way through his back.

Dart watched Lavitz intensely as he battled, envying his use of a spear for Dart had never been able to use such a weak thing in battle.

Unfortunately for Dart Lavitz now had time to analyze him and his automatic reaction was to jump on him, going for his legs first.

Dart was mildly surprised by his quickness to go after him, but did not hesitate to bring his sword up and defend himself. He blocked him when he aimed at his left leg and again as he went for his more vulnerable neck.

"Who are you!" Lavitz barked harshly as he pressed with all his might against Dart and his broad sword. He'd beat this fool if he had to.

Dart pressed back with equal force, not wanting to overpower him even if he could. "I am Dart! I am not your enemy!" He insisted.

Lavitz broke their struggle of power by jumping back a space, lowering his weapon to his side with tentativeness yet a simultaneous sense that he could trust this guy. "I am Lavitz Slambert." He said with pride, holding his head high despite himself. "I am the head of the First Knighthood of the Kingdom of Basil!"

As Lavitz spoke Dart too lowered his sword back to his side. This guy seemed ok. And now that things were a smidgen less intense he now took in the fact that Lavitz had golden blond hair and emerald green eyes. Not that it mattered. Mostly he just wondered what Lavitz was doing in such a hell like place. Was it really because of the war?

A whistle sounded like that of the now deceased warden's and there was instantly three more wardens surrounding them. "Well, it seems we don't have time for introductions!" Lavitz half joked.

Dart snorted in slight amusement. "No we don't!"

And they were at it once more. Lavitz took the two on his side while Dart handled the one.

The battle was over in the blink of an eye for them both too, each striking one good blow to each warden's chest before any real battle had really started.

As the ringing in both of their ears from so much metal on metal died down Lavitz knelt down on the bridge, looking down after where two of his men had fallen. "I will carry out your wish." He promised, touching his chest lightly before rising to his feet and turning to face Dart. "You said Dart." He wanted to be sure, waiting for a nod from the man before him before continuing. "I can not imagine there is somebody who intentionally comes to Hellena." He frowned faintly. "What are you up to?"

Dart turned away from Lavitz and walked the opposite direction a few paces before stopping, looking to the ceiling, and then down at his own feet, a small sigh escaping him. "I am here to rescue someone important to me." He spun around to face Lavitz. "Do you know anything about her!" Dart exclaimed with eagerness, eyes wide with hope and fists clenched in anticipation. "Her name is Shana!"

"Hmm…" Lavitz brought a hand to his chin and tapped it thoughtfully. "I am sorry, but…"

Dart shook his head, halting Lavitz's apology. "I'll look elsewhere." He said with a shrug, starting off in a run.

"Wait!" Lavitz called to him, running over to catch up with him.

Dart stopped, turning back to Lavitz as he stood before him.

"I'll go with you." Lavitz offered, smiling wanly as he placed a hand on his chest to further indicate himself.

Dart frowned lightly. "I thought you had to go back to the castle as soon as possible?" He thought out loud.

Lavitz struck a pose unintentionally, hands on his hips. "She's important…this girl you are looking for?"

Dart walked a step over to the so called railing to prevent people from falling and looked downward in shame. "It's my problem. It was my fault." He admitted, shaking his head dejectedly.

Lavitz joined him, looking at the wall opposite them instead of at him or down where his comrades' lay somewhere, lifeless as dolls. "I don't know what brought you here, but Hellena is not that easy to go through alone."

Dart thought about this as he gripped the thin railing, bringing his head back up to glance almost sadly over at Lavitz.

Lavitz frowned deeply, crossing his arms over his chest and ignoring the fact Dart was not saying anything in return. "That goes for me too." He admitted, letting his hands fall back to his side after a moment before he let his eyes wander to Dart. "But, I can break out from here together with you." He held his arms up in a shrug of the sorts that said, 'How about it?'

Dart tilted his head to the side to more clearly look at Lavitz. Should he? He had just met this man and yet Lavitz seemed quite comfortable around him. Should Dart as well?

Lavitz sensed Dart's uncertainty and went so far as to say what he figured should have been a given. "Of course with the girl."

Dart fully faced Lavitz, lifting his arms slightly in question to accompany his words. "How come you trust me? We just met."

Lavitz walked away a bit, thinking as he went, before coming back and placing his hands on his hips again out of habit. "The raid you made was quite impressive." He decided. "I trusted you to guard my back." He grinned for the first time in a while. "That's the way I think." He shrugged.

Dart nodded after a moment of silence. "All right. Let's go together." He offered a small smile as well, pleased that he now had some sort of back-up.

Lavitz nodded, falling into place behind his new partner.

Dart sized the holding room up by what he could see and let out a heavy sigh. "This will take forever to search." Still, he begrudgingly set off toward the first cell he saw.

Lavitz stopped, snapping his fingers. "That's right!" He cried, face lighting up. "I remember some sort of commotion not too long ago about a new prisoner or something and how she was 'special.'

Dart swirled around at the speed of light. "Really! What else of it!" He demanded, staring Lavitz down with intensity.

Lavitz ignored Darts harsh gaze and went on. "They said she was being kept somewhere special as well." He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"And!" Dart nodded fervently, eyes wide.

"So I'd bet money that she won't be anywhere down here. This place is for low class prisoners who are either being left here to die or tortured." Lavitz licked his lips. "That's what I've learned in my stay at least."

Immense relief washed over Dart's face as he heard that she was at least privileged enough to be kept somewhere where she wouldn't be harmed. If only he knew where that somewhere was…

"So let's go." Lavitz ordered, forgetting Dart was not another one of the men in his group for a moment. "She needs us." He added, trying to make it sound like he was as worried as Dart.

Dart heard the command in his tone as well as saw through his attempt at covering it up, but did not mention the fact. He simply nodded and led the way out of this section of cells, back out on the open spaced, unstable platforms.

"Man…it's been a while since I've seen some light." Lavitz chuckled, stretching his arms out above his head. "So, where to?"

Dart knew exactly where he wanted to go and was pleased when he saw the lift that filled the once empty space before them. "We're going up." He informed him, heading over to the lift to place a hand on it. "I've already been around down there and there aren't any cells." He stepped into the device. "So we need to go up." He said firmly.

Lavitz nodded in agreement, joining Dart in the cramped area.

Dart pulled on the rope which would lift them into the air, getting a few feet off the ground before he was already straining himself, breathing heavy as he struggled with their combined weight.

Lavitz noticed Dart was having problems and didn't even pause to wonder if offering his assistance would offend Dart. "Need a hand?" he showed Dart his hands.

Dart might have not appreciated such a gesture if this were a battle, finding it wrong to offer without being asked, but it was not. So he willingly took Lavitz's help.

Once they both got to pulling as hard as they could, they finally started to get up there. And, ten minutes later, they'd pulled themselves up to the next platform. Once there and having tied the lift off, they both fell to their knees.

Their bodies trembled as they breathed in and out heavily, pupils dilated, and hands raw as they struggled to get back to their regular breathing patterns.

"Dear God…" Dart murmured, rolling over onto his back.

"Man, do I feel sorry for whoever has had to carry me in the past." Lavitz chuckled, rolling over as Dart had before putting a hand to his forehead to feel how warm he had gotten. "Either that or we're pretty pathetic."

Dart snorted. "Nah." He shook his head. "You're just really fat." He agreed.

"Thanks." Lavitz shook his head in disbelief, a wide grin on his lips. "You're no Mr. Slim yourself."

"Yeah, yeah." Dart rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself as he rolled away from Lavitz back into a sitting position. He was feeling good again. "You ok?" he asked almost instinctively as Lavitz remained laying.

"Fine." He answered simply, rolling into a sitting position as well. "Just because I'm not super-fast like you doesn't mean I'm going to die." He poked fun.

Dart shook his head, standing now. "Then let's go." He waited for Lavitz to get up too. "Shana wouldn't appreciate us goofing around while she's miserable in a cell." He said this to remind himself more than Lavitz.

"Of course." He nodded firmly.

Dart took that as to mean he was good to go and he set off toward the door closest to them. He didn't know why he was surprised, but when he turned the knob and it wouldn't twist to open the door he found himself staring in disbelief. "What the-" He wriggled it some more before kicking it roughly in irritation and turned back to Lavitz.

Lavitz was staring at Dart with one brow raised, a slight frown on his lips, and his arms crossed over his chest.

"What?" Dart inquired.

"Did you honestly expect it to open if you kicked it?" He couldn't hide his amusement behind his frown, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips. "In fact, did you expect it to open period?"

Dart shrugged. "I don't know." He rubbed the back of his head. "But I was kind of hoping." He admitted bashfully.

Lavitz rolled his eyes. "If this really is the section they have her in, and I'd assume rightly so since it is locked, then why would it be open? It's for important people. Hellena doesn't take to kindly to losing its precious cargo."

Dart's eyes narrowed instantly at Lavitz's choice of words. "Cargo?" He growled.

Lavitz didn't flinch or change his tone. "Yes. That's what she is to them. Cargo." He said it with such nonchalance it was unrealistic to Dart.

"That's why I'm taking her back!" Dart insisted, forgetting Lavitz comment almost completely.

"Then we should look for a key." Lavitz suggested. "That is…unless you'd like to try to kick it again?" he teased.

"Ha, ha, ha." Dart fake laughed. "Come on."

They walked along another one of this place's sorry excuses of bridges, feeling as if they might fall at any moment. But they somehow managed to keep their balance the whole way and were thankful upon reaching solid ground once more.

"This way." Dart whispered, heading stealthily into the only opening left to enter. He did not rush for he had learned by now that this only garnered unwanted attention if one was not fast enough to appear like a shadow. And he knew that with Lavitz this would be impossible.

The room they came into was akin to those which Dart had seen before. The floors were, naturally, that same color and texture as were the walls. There was a walkway above their heads and far on the other side of the room, the two being connected by the rock formations, made of those planks which Dart detested, there was a gated square in the center of the circular room for a purpose Dart did not know of, and branching off were two sets of short stairs.

As the pair approached the stairs directly ahead they spied a large group of wardens standing around at the top conversing with one another and made haste in backing away.

The other stairs were the same as well, equally crowded and impassable. The only thing left to them here was to go up to the walkways and get a better view of the wardens and whatever options would be open to them in dealing with them.

They circled the room on the walkways, not stopping on the connecting mound, only slowing upon reaching the last elevated rock because there was nowhere else to go. It had a few crates stacked on the edge, a torch jutting out from a different corner, and a pale of water pushed over on its side between the two. Overall…nothing.

Lavitz walked over to the edge of their footing, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he stared out over the scene below. Those guards didn't look like they were going anywhere soon. "This room is extra tightly guarded." He stated the obvious.

Dart frowned deeply, thinking hard on what they could do now. What was there to do at this point anyway? They searched all they could without getting caught. Was there no hope?

Lavitz saw from the corner of his eye that Dart was miserable by his downcast gaze and unwavering frown. He wanted to say something, but found no words to express the right thoughts. So he remained silent.

Dart crossed his arms over his chest, settling down on top of the crates so he could at least rest his feet while he sulked.

As he set himself down he felt a slight poke. "Ow…" he murmured, looking curiously about himself as he rose back to his feet. He found the culprit to be that which he so coveted. "Oh my God!"

Lavitz spun around instantly, taking Darts tone to mean something was wrong. "What's wrong!" He cried in a hushed voice so the wardens would not hear.

Dart picked the item up off the dusty crate, shoving it in Lavitz's direction. "It's a key! See!" He exclaimed with a newfound excitement.

Lavitz sighed, feeling foolish to have thought that anything could be wrong. "Take it with us." He nodded. "We'll need it if the girl called Shana is under confinement."

Dart brought the key back to himself, studying the key as he moved it between his fingers. "But why would it be just setting out over here if it was so important?" Dart said with a confused expression.

Lavitz shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe this is really why so many wardens are gathered here, or maybe they're just being sloppy." He paused to ponder this himself. "It's anyone's guess."

Dart shrugged right back. "You're right. There's no reason questioning good luck though." He chuckled, pocketing the key. "Now we can at least try the lock."

Lavitz nodded, following behind Dart as they went back across the walkway as they had before and snuck under the guard's noses out to the open space leading to the locked door.

As they approached the door Lavitz slowed down until he was at a complete stop a few feet from Dart. A question had just struck him and he wondered if he should ask such a thing.

Dart pulled the key from his pocket and had it in the lock before he noticed Lavitz was standing off away from him. Dart frowned, leaving the key to turn to him. "What's up?"

Lavitz shook his head. "I was just thinking…" he trailed off for a bit, still not sure this was approachable territory. "Why only that girl?"

Dart tensed, teeth grit in anger toward whoever came up with taking Shana like they had. "I intend to find that out." He informed Lavitz with a firm nod. "But that's after we rescue Shana."

Lavitz agreed, waving his hand to prompt Dart to get back to the lock.

Dart held his breath as he took hold of the key and turned. He only released his breath as he saw the key moved easily, the lock clicking. "Thank God…" he murmured, pushing the door open. "Shana must be in here!"

Lavitz didn't have to say a word for Dart to know he agreed wholeheartedly. All that was required was for his companion to follow silently along with him into the holding area.

As they entered Dart was mildly surprised to see that everything was identical to how it had been in the lower level cells. It was like they had taken a cloning machine to create this second of the two instead of having imperfect humans build it.

"Some special holding cell." Lavitz scoffed, folding his arms over his chest as they went. "It's no different from the crummy environment my knights and I were subjugated to."

Dart didn't like this one bit, remaining silent as he walked to the right to start his search.

It took but a minute for them to find the place they were looking for. There was one cell which had three guards gathered around it. They were there for a 'just in case' scenario, one which was about ready to play out.

"Hey!" One guard cried, getting the other two to look the direction he was. "You! You're from Basil!"

They all pulled out their spears, ready to give up their lives to do as they'd been ordered.

Likewise Dart unsheathed his sword, taking an offensive stance. "Lavitz! Let's get 'em before they make a noise!" He ordered.

Lavitz had no problem being the one taking the orders for once and quickly jumped to it. "Yeah!" And he charged, spear pointed dead ahead so that it ran one warden clear through his stomach.

Dart took the larger group this time, ducking and rolling around on the floor as he avoided the enemies weapons and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike back. He got the first chance as one of the men struck his spear at him and got it stuck in a crack in a brick in the process.

Dart cut his weapon in half first and then proceeded to split him in half through his stomach. As Dart went to rise up he found himself in a pickle.

The warden remaining jabbed Dart in the back, knocking him down flat and sent his sword skidding across the floor.

Dart scrambled up on his knees and hurried to his weapon, but he was dizzy from hitting his head and could not see clearly so he wandered cluelessly, turning about just in time to see the warden standing over him with his spear raised high over his head.

Dart, despite himself, was frozen. He closed his eyes tight and braced for the blow.

"I don't think so!" Lavitz cried, stabbing the warden dead center of his back.

The warden staggered forward, not completely dead, but utterly useless.

Dart snapped out of it then, opening his eyes to see he had been saved before knocking the warden off of his feet so Lavitz could do whatever else had to be done.

Lavitz hit him one last time a little higher on his back so that he struck right where his heart laid in his chest. It killed him near instantly.

Lavitz didn't linger on the man; he swiftly pulled his weapon from the man's chest and returned it to its sheath on his back. "You ok?" Lavitz asked curiously as he held out a hand to help Dart up.

Dart didn't move for a minute, nodding a while after as he took his friend's hand with a smile. Yeah…friend. Dart thought he could call him that now. He had saved him after all.

Lavitz pulled him up to his feet, doing a quick sweep of Dart with his eyes to make sure there was really nothing wrong. Men had a tendency to lie to look strong in front of others even if it wasn't the best idea. "You seem ok…"

Dart frowned. "You didn't believe me!" He shook his head, going to pick up his sword from the floor.

"Who is it!" A more soft spoken voice cried out to them.

Dart sucked in a sharp breath, jerking into a standing position as he sheathed his sword. "That voice! Is that Shana! It's me!" He spoke with haste; rushing to the cell the guards had been protecting and latched onto the thick bars of the cell to shake them desperately.

"Dart! Is that you Dart!" The woman's voice came again, this time with a choked tone. She was so scared that she'd be wrong, her imagination playing tricks on her.

Dart smiled warmly, ceasing his shaking as her voice soothed his savage soul. "Yes, it is me! I'm here to rescue you!" He assured her, his smile turning into a foolish grin.

Lavitz was keeping a sharp eye out for anyone who might have heard the struggle and came running. "Hurry up!" He reminded. "The guards could be here any minute!"

Dart snatched the key from his pocket once more and shoved it into the lock, jiggling it around until it too opened the door for him and he burst in.

"Shana!" Dart cried in relief, slowing to a stop in front of her.

Shana looked up to see his eyes, whispering contentedly, "Dart..."

He nodded, moving a step closer. "I'm here to rescue you." He said for the umpteenth time, tenseness of not being sure of her safety fading into nothingness as he took in her appearance. She was dirty, that was fir sure, and her hair…it had been cut, but other than that she looked to be in perfect health.

Shana didn't respond, too afraid that to speak would mean shattering this moment where her heart was practically flying.

"You haven't forgotten about me…?" He inquired tentatively. "Even though we haven't seen each other in five years?" He was so very anxious.

Shana turned from Dart, heading over to stand at the bottom of her bed before shaking her head noticeably. "How could I forget?" She then made it a point to go to his side and wait for him to turn toward her. "Show me your face." She told him meekly.

Dart lowered his head down some so that she could take in his appearance more closely as he had already done with her. "I haven't changed much." He muttered as he shook his head lightly from side to side.

Shana clasped her hands at her chest for an instant before moving them apart and shaking her hands up and in insistence, "Yes, you have." She smiled, facing away from him again as she tore up a bit. "You look much stronger, much stronger than the Dart I knew." She grimaced lightly at the reminder that they had been apart for so very longer, much longer than she would have liked.

"Hurry up!" Called Lavitz's worried voice. "The guards are coming!" He warned the pair, jumping back and forth on the balls of his feet as he waited.

Dart swiftly turned about, stopping and looking back to her so as to make sure she was coming. He didn't want to leave her when the sole reason for this was to get her back.

Shana nodded, bowing slightly from the strength she put behind her nod.

Dart sped out at her response, trusting her to follow at a similar pace.

Shana followed, albeit at a much slower pace, until she reached the door leading out of her cell. She paused briefly, turning back around with a wide smile as she brushed her forehead in relief, her way of saying goodbye to this place, before she raced after Dart.

"The girl is breaking out!" One of the three wardens screamed in horror.

The second one's eyes danced with malice. "I won't let her!" He assured his mate, daringly charging forward of his own accord.

"I don't think so bastards!" Dart swore, stabbing the first in his heart without hesitation and the second through his skull in the same manner. He'd do anything to save his baby sister from their grasp. He'd kill a thousand mean if he had to.

Shana screamed in fear as the third warden, who had rushed around Dart and Lavitz and crossed the bridge behind them during the commotion in order to reach her, held her at spear point.

"Don't move a muscle!" He barked at the girl, keeping a close eye on the men beside them.

Dart felt the breath being knocked out of him as he swirled about to lay eyes on what he had let happen to his sister. It was like some kind of nightmare turned real.

"You too!" The warden shouted as he saw a flicker of movement that was Dart getting ready to pounce. "Or she **dies**."

Dart froze in the middle of his step, stumbling forward some on accident. There was an unholy fear contorting the surface of his face as he silently pleaded for a miracle.

The warden kept her at spear point, walking over closer to her so that he could grab her by her shortened hair.

Shana yelped, keeping as still as Dart was.

"Come on girlie!" He ordered, dragging her off in the opposite direction of Dart. "We're going to see Fruegel about this." He sounded smug as he chuckled to himself over surely getting a reward for this.

Shana looked helplessly back at Dart from the corner of her eye, light brown eyes shining with fresh tears. "Dart…" she moaned.

Dart felt a fire flare up in him and his eyes burned with this same fury as he watched his sister being dragged away from him. It made it all the worse that he was hurting her in the process. And Dart wouldn't have it, nor would he let Lavitz save him as he had before and was looking like he might attempt to do now.

Lavitz was measuring the distance and how he'd have to throw his spear to hit the devil hanging on to Shana, but not her. But for once he was racked with nerves and couldn't keep a steady hand. He was useless, and he didn't understand why.

And then Dart jolted. He reared back and hurled his sword at Shana's capture.

Blood splattered across the floor of the holding room soon followed by a body hitting the floor.

Shana stood trembling with her hands covering her mouth as she stared wide eyed down at the twitching body of the warden. But it wasn't just this gory sight that had her so worked up, it was also because she had felt the breeze behind the throw and swore it barely missed her in favor of this man. And that's when she finally collapsed.

"Shana!" Dart screamed as her knees smacked on the concrete and her body shook fiercely. He rushed over to her, dropping down to her level to pull her close. "Are you hurt?" He frantically asked.

Shana sobbed lightly into his shoulder, rattled by the deaths and what she felt could have been her instead. "I-I'm…" she trailed off, catching her breath.

Dart ran his fingers through her short hair as he whispered, "It's ok. We're gonna get out of here soon."

Shana held him tight, relishing in his touch for what felt like the first time in forever. "I know…" she breathed.

There was silence then as they stayed close, breathing in the others scent which had long been forgotten. But mostly they were focused on memorizing the feel of the others skin. So much had changed.

Ten minutes or so passed as they stayed as such before the silence was broken. "I am fine." Shana finally said with a wan smile, pulling away from him and standing up straight.

Dart did as she did, offering a small smile to her as his heart continued to beat rapidly in his chest.

The two stared into the others eyes intently, almost afraid that looking away would mean losing the other forever. The only thing that broke the moment was Lavitz finally doing what he knew he couldn't put off any longer.

"You can celebrate later." He insisted. "We are still deep in the belly of the enemy." His face was set hard as he said this, but he felt obligated to joke a bit to lighten the mood. "Besides…it's too damp to have a party, isn't it?" He chuckled.

Dart looked to him and nodded, snorting at Lavitz's inability to say something without adding some form of a joke. He then turned his gaze back to Shana. "Let's go, Shana." He said gently, holding out his hand. "Follow me okay?"

Shana lowered her gaze to the ground, frowning lightly before walking away toward the entrance of her cell where, leaning against the wall, was a bow and a quiver of arrows. Her bow and arrows. "Dart, I'm eighteen now." She sighed, picking up the two pieces of armor setting with the weapon and fitting them back on herself. One was for her stomach area and the other for her shoulders and the back of her neck where it wrapped around. "I can fight too!" she exclaimed, striking a pose with her arrow posed to shoot.

"Shana…" Dart murmured, shaking his head in disbelief.

Lavitz stepped forward. "She grew up." He shrugged.

Shana looked curiously at him, wondering where he was going with this.

Lavitz crossed his arms over his chest. "She was alone in such a hell like place. If she was a regular woman, she wouldn't have been able to survive." He smiled with amusement then. "Of course, there are not that many fools who would come here to save her either."

Dart lowered his head and shook it slowly. "But, the Shana of my memory hasn't changed a bit." He tried to reason, knowing the point was moot.

"Let's talk about that after we get out of here." Lavitz suggested.

Dart and Shana nodded in unison before Dart took the lead and they all ran to get out of this place, this hell, as fast as they could.

**...**

In another area of the fortress Fruegel was walking along a bridge to ride a lift down when he heard his name being called repetitively. "Fruegel! Fruegel! Fruegel!"

Fruegel sighed heavily, turning about at the edge of the bridge like a semi trying to turn around on a one way street. But with his effort and experience he managed it. "What!" He spat, eyes narrowed into slits and mouth curved into a snarl.

The two wardens cringed at his tone, but went on nonetheless. "Well…-and…" the two looked nervously at each other. "We're sorry!" they cried in unison, unlike with their previous sentence where it all jumbled together.

Fruegel's face turned blood red. "Say that again!" He screamed, clenching his fists in frustration.

One of the two backed away some, knowing that to be the one closest and especially to be the one bearing bad news was enough for a death warrant.

The other was braver, even stepping forward a bit. "Well-Well, the Knight from Basil broke out of the jail!" he burst out. "I'm sorry!" he wailed.

Fruegel groaned with extreme irritation. "I am not talking about that rat! After that!" He demanded, fearing for his own head more than anything.

The warden swallowed hard, sensing this was it for him. "The girl from Seles was taken by the red guy." He made it a point not to stutter this time around.

Fruegel wanted to punch this guy until he turned black and blue all over for the venom he had just spewed. "What!" He screamed, lifting the warden up off the ground by his neck. "What! What did you say!" He repeated, giving the guy a chance he didn't deserve to change his mind.

The warden gasped for air, pulling at Fruegel's hand closed tight on his throat. "T-The girl…" he felt himself turning a shade of blue as he used his last few breathes. "…was taken away…by the guy with red armor…" he managed, coughing.

Fruegel promptly, almost automatically, tossed the warden off the bridge as he did a turnabout and stomped off, throwing his hands into the air in unbridled frustration and fury. Not even the warden's screams as he plummeted soothed him now. "You bastard!" He shrieked, referring to the warden who remained.

The warden was shaking in his boots as he awaited orders or a punishment similar to that of the other.

"Don't let them out alive!" Fruegel shouted.

The warden nodded to his back before zipping off.

"Wait!" Fruegel turned in the man's direction, waiting for him to do the same to him before going on. "I almost forgot the most important thing." He said in disbelief of himself. "Don't kill the girl. It's an order from His Majesty Doel!" Fear glinted in his eyes as he imagined his wardens failing him.

"Aye, aye sir!" Chirped the warden as he saluted him and proceeded to gather up a group to go and recapture the girl as well as kill the other two.

"If you fail, I will behead all of you!" He screeched after him and to all who had ears. He hoped this would be the perfect incentive.

"The red one…" Fruegel snorted, quaking in shear anger and hate. "I'll get you!" he swore to himself. "I might as well dye everything else red with your blood!" With that he burst out into maniacal laughter, so in love with the mere notion of this being the red ones fate.

**...**

The group was already down to the lower level as the prison was sent into a frenzy over the escapees and their hearts were beating wildly in their chests from the shear fear that gripped them and the adrenaline which pumped through their veins.

All they needed now was a way to exit the entrance as Dart had to first get in.

"Here!" Lavitz called to them from far in front. "Get on the horse! Hurry!" he grabbed a hold of the mane of one of the horses, it rearing up in surprise at first.

Dart grabbed onto Shana's hand and practically dragged her along behind him in order to not lose her due to her much slower pace. "Get on!" he ordered her, using his hands as a stepping stool for to get up on the horse which Lavitz had finally calmed.

"Ok!" she chirped in a heavy tone, jumping up on Dart's brace before throwing a leg over the side of the horse and holding on tight to his mane.

"You get on too!" Lavitz told Dart.

Dart did so, hopping up behind Shana and reaching around her to grab on to another section of the mane as well as create a brace of the sorts in case Shana leaned too far to one side.

Lavitz, however, did not do as they did. He shot into a sprint down the hallway without a steed.

"Lavitz!" Dart yelled. "What are you doing! Get on a horse!"

"Not yet!" he called back over his shoulder. "I have to lower the bridge!" he insisted, giving Dart a thumbs up in hopes that it would give him a bit of faith in his actions.

"Lavitz…" Dart grumbled under his breath, kicking the horse with his foot to give the creature the command that it was time to go, go fast.

The horse reared back, erupting in a loud neigh before charging toward the exit.

"Woah!" Shana squeaked, giggling softly as her surprise turned to excitement. She'd never ridden a horse before.

Lavitz had knocked the gatekeeper at the crank out cold and lowered the bridge all the way down as he saw Dart and Shana coming. "Go! Go!" he ordered, waving them toward the exit before he knew it was his turn to go. He raced back to where the horses were held and, after knocking a few others out, obtained a horse of his own.

Since he was so slow another guard was getting to the crank as he rode back. He leaned forward, tightening his grip on the horses' mane, and kicking the creature repeatedly to be sure that he would not get trapped in by himself.

"Raise the bridge! Jail break!" A voice screamed from afar, signaling the crank to be turned.

Shana sucked in a sharp breath as she saw the bridge being lifted as they waited a little ways past it for Lavitz to show up. "Lavitz!" She cried after him.

Lavitz held his breath as he saw the bridge being pulled up as he approached it. Still, it was just halfway up. He could do this. And even if the horse didn't want to, he made the thing.

It climbed up the quickly turning vertical pathway and, by the skin of his teeth, the creature reached the end and with some prompting of Lavitz made a leap over the moat.

"Whoa!" Lavitz cried, the landing jolting him like that of an earthquake. But he didn't let it keep him. The other two were already heading on and he couldn't afford to fall behind even if they'd stop for him. He wouldn't let his speed be what got them caught all over again.

And they ran on, the sound of beating hooves and screaming soldiers filling their ears all the while.

**...**

Down on the first level Fruegel and a handful of his men stood together, Fruegel letting all his fury out on them. "Bring her back!" He bellowed, shaking his fists at the whole lot of them. "Or you will be dead!" He threatened coldly, fully intending to fulfill this if they came back empty handed.

The men nodded firmly, scurrying off like rats in a maze to get to their cheese, or in this case, the girl. And in all honesty, if they were to not find what they were sent to look for they were not sure if they'd be coming back. They knew what happened when one failed, they'd seen it countless times. And none were in the mood to have their lives cut short.

From behind, on a higher walkway, the man in the hood slipped into the room to look down on the frantic scene. He smirked with amusement, a soft chuckle passing his lips.

Fruegel swirled around upon the sound of his voice floating to him. "Y-You!" He spit out in surprised worry. "When did you sneak in!"

The man smirked wider, liking this man's blatant fear of him and what he could do. "Should we report this to His Majesty Doel?" He said coolly, appearing as if this whole business didn't affect him in the least.

Fruegel felt his throat constrict for a moment as he imagined what would happen to him. He pictured something similar to how he treated his underlings for failure. "Wait!" He pled, trying not to sound too desperate. "I'll bring back the girl!"

The man in the hood chuckled. "Otherwise, you would be dead by now." He said simply, shrugging slightly.

Fruegel swallowed, turning to one remaining warden beside him. He favored him for some reason or another that he didn't understand and would never lay a hand on him no matter what. But he was pretty mad right now and couldn't say he trusted himself even with this guy. So he ordered off. "You go too, bastard!"

The warden sensed how close his master was to the edge of losing control and did as he was told promptly, not bothering to ask anything whatsoever.

Fruegel stomped off in the opposite direction of his man; going to hit something or throw one of the few men still around off of a high point. He needed the relief it brought.

The hooded man watched as Fruegel left in a fluster, shaking his head at the brute of a leader with amusement. "It doesn't matter." He snorted to himself, walking to the far left of the walkway. "Everything is going just as I planned." He nodded with confidence. "Yes...they don't know they are in the palm of my hand." And he walked off out of the room, out of sight, but not out of anyone's mind.

**I don't know how much of this story I'll end up uploading. Besides, all of you know how most of it goes anyway. Maybe if you really want to read it all you can give me ideas as to how to get it published. Please review!**


	3. Little Shack on the Prairie

The group of three were running through a prairie as they continued to be pursued after a week by the fools from Hellena. They hadn't stopped for longer than an hour in each day that had passed and were quite hungry and exhausted from all the effort.

Running? Yes, running. They'd ditched the horses after the first two days not because they were slow and useless, because they weren't, it was because the constant beating of their hooves always kept the wardens aware of where they were headed. And it was too difficult to keep a distance this way.

This day was particularly rough seeing as they had nearly been jumped an hour or so ago as they rested and had no way of completely losing the fools as they ran for their lives.

Lavitz especially was having problems. His heavy armor, useful in most scenarios as a knight, was dragging him down. He lagged a good ten feet behind Shana and Dart.

Dart and Shana stopped for him, Shana waving him over.

Lavitz caught up in a moment, doubling over as he reached them from overexerting himself these past few days. It was all piling up.

Dart was concerned, looking past him and back hurriedly. But truly he was more worried about his friend than he was about being caught. So his gaze finally lingered on him as he stepped forward. "Lavitz, can you keep going?" He hoped the answer would be yes.

Lavitz panted a while longer before he was able to rise back up and speak. "Yeah! I'll be fine."

Dart was happy to hear it and nodded cheerfully. He turned back away from Lavitz and started off in a slower run so as to not push Lavitz too hard in case he wasn't as ok as he claimed to be.

Lavitz appreciated Dart's change of pace, yet he still managed to stay a little farther behind. He cursed his heavy armor, wishing to be back in the safety of Bale rather than here having to run to stay alive.

The warden couldn't see them all too well as they rounded a corner. But he didn't care. He lined up his bow and arrow to strike them. Hitting one, even the girl, would be alright as long as the blow wasn't fatal.

And he released it.

A sharp yelp cut through the air and the sound of knees hitting the ground brought Dart to attention.

"Lavitz!" He cried in alarm, fighting his urge to go to his friend so he could instead run past him to see if he could see the one who had shot the arrow. He gritted his teeth as he glimpsed him and a handful of others spilling over the hill in the distance. "Hide yourselves!" Dart ordered, now in a frenzy.

Shana was quick to run around the next curve over behind a large rock on her own, not even thinking about Lavitz in the heat of the moment.

Luckily, Dart was there. He hurried back over to Lavitz side, wrapping an arm around his upper body in order to create a brace for him. This helped Dart bring him up to a standing position so they could limp over to where Shana crouched.

Lavitz had his arm around Dart's shoulder so he could lean more heavily on him and would thus put the least amount of weight on his injured leg.

As Dart let Lavitz go he jumped back up to see if the wardens had decided to follow the path which they were on or were going to cut across the grass instead. As they continued to approach them in the right direction Dart found it hard to breathe and needed more than anything for Lavitz to get up and start running again. But Lavitz couldn't.

Shana looked with the first signs of concern at Lavitz's wound, scooting closer in order to touch it.

Lavitz cringed noticeably, stifling a moan.

Dart went back to them, kneeling down next to Lavitz to see the damage for himself. "Does it hurt?" He knew it did. He wouldn't be able to lie to him this time.

Lavitz clutched at his leg in an attempt to hold the pain in, his eyes shut, and a grimace plastered on his mouth. Still, he shook his head in the negative. "It's just a scratch."

Shana ignored his insistences, thinking only of the long term effects associated with paying no mind to the wound. "But you have to cover the wound."

Lavitz shook his head. "It can be treated later. We have to run first." He was more than willing to put aside his pain so they could all remain safe from the wardens of Hellena.

Dart got back on his feet, pulling Shana up with him. "I will carry Lavitz." He directed at Shana. "Shana, go first." He'd rather it be him who suffered than her. If he went behind her then this would insure at least she would make it.

Shana whined openly. "Don't treat me like a child!" She clasped her hands on her chest and shook her head fervently back and forth. "I will go with you guys!"

Dart opened his mouth to rebuke her, stopping as Lavitz rose up alongside them. "I can walk by myself." He informed, gritting his teeth in pain as he forced himself to apply pressure to his foot.

"Here they come!" Shana cried, pointing over the rock toward the wardens.

The wardens were now coming around the first curve of the path.

"Let's go!" Dart commanded, shooing the two.

Shana ran first, followed by Lavitz with his limp, and last came Dart who did so purposefully in order to make sure the others were in the clear.

Shana went to turn down a path branching off to the right when a better idea hit her. She came to a swift halt and turned hard left into the thick grassy area to conceal herself with the added aid of a large oak tree sitting atop a boulder.

Dart and Lavitz followed suit, practically throwing themselves down on the ground beneath the grass lying behind the tree.

The wardens burst onto the scene, most heading on the path to the right without a second thought, only the last two thought it best to linger a moment. One went farther to the left, scanning the area like a hawk for any sign of movement.

The other warden went slightly to his right, looking over the land much like his partner. They had to have been here. There was no way they could have outran them so much with one injured and he had heard one scream, so he knew he was hurt.

"I don't see nothin'." The one on the left grumbled, turning to the other. "Are you sure one of em' got hit?"

The other growled angrily, facing his partner with an irritated look. "Yes, I'm sure!" He seethed. "How many times do I have to tell you! I heard one scream."

Then there was a rustle in the grass.

The two men snapped to attention, the one on the left crying in excited disbelief, "There they are!"

The other nodded smugly as they both drew their spears and pointed them offensively toward the outer edges of the tree. "Woman first!" He snapped. "Then we might spare those people from Basil!" He added as an incentive, fully prepared to have a struggle.

"We said move it!" The one on the left growled, trying to imitate the other perfectly.

Next came a tiny squeak followed by a small creature jumping out from the grass. It was a rabbit.

The two wardens stared blankly as the rabbit scurried off over to the next patch of grass and disappeared into it followed by a few others.

"Is that the fugitive?" The warden on the left asked, scratching his head.

The other sighed in frustration. "Don't be silly! Go look over there!" He pointed down the path the rest had already taken and they both ran off in a frenzy, worried that they'd already fallen too far behind to find their group.

Dart let out a breath he'd been holding for what felt like forever, loosening his hold on Lavitz's mouth. "That was too close."

Shana nodded shortly, still staring at Lavitz as he let out pained sounds.

"Sorry…" Lavitz muttered grimly as he finally stretched his leg out and relieved a smidgen of the pain in it.

Dart shook his head. "It's not your fault." He found himself saying to his great astonishment. "You're hurt." He shrugged.

"Yeah…but if it wasn't for those stupid rabbits…" He trailed off, averting his gaze.

Dart snorted. "We didn't get caught did we? So whatever, man." He cracked a smile.

Lavitz appreciated how forgiving Dart was able to be considering what was at stake. "Thanks." He said, nodding as he stood up swiftly.

"Oh! Are you sure you should be standing so suddenly?" Shana asked, the worry showing clear in her light brown eyes.

Lavitz chuckled lightly. "It'll be ok." He assured her, waving her concerns off. "Now let's get going." He walked out from the grass before looking back. "We've already wasted enough time dodging those creeps. We can't afford any more."

Dart and Shana nodded in unison, coming out of the grass. They then assumed their positions which had been established over the past week and carried on.

Dart knew better than to even try the right path which was surely swarming with Hellena wardens, so instead he led his group along the northbound trail on the left. Unfortunately the path ended abruptly at the body of a river which stretched for what appeared to be miles in both directions. "Agh…" Dart grumbled.

"Looks like this way is no good." Shana chirped, hands clasped at her chest like they always were when she became worried or disheartened.

Lavitz nodded. "It's much too far to jump. And swimming is just asking to be swept downstream." But it wasn't just that. Lavitz had never favored water, not since he'd nearly drowned as a kid.

Dart looked back at Lavitz. He was still putting his weight on his one foot despite his best efforts to make it unobvious and quit in general. "And with your leg it just makes it even worse." He sighed. "We'll have to find some other way. That's all."

The other two nodded, walking off with Lavitz at the front this time. And so they headed to the only real way available to them, they went to the lower left.

As they walked, this time for a much longer spell, Lavitz slowly moved to the back of the pack. His leg was still bothering him more than he'd ever tell and the slower he went the easier it was on him.

A few hours or so later they came upon a small shack which appeared to have been lived in at one point in time, especially since there was still a horse corralled up in a circular area.

The horse neighed happily at them as they passed by, kicking up dirt as it pranced about. It was like the brown steed expected them to greet him with the same enthusiasm.

Dart walked over to the edge of the fence, reaching an arm out towards the animal so as to somewhat please him. He even stroked his forehead when the horse stepped close enough. And it made Dart happy too.

Shana giggled softly at them.

Dart looked back over his shoulder as her sweet laughter filled his ears. "What?"

She shook her head. "You're just funny. That's all." She answered simply.

Dart stared at her with a furrowed brow and confused eyes before he was smiling again, this time a much softer and sweeter smile. "Shana…"

"Yes?" She squeaked, stepping closer to stand right at his side by the fence and the horse.

"Ah!" Lavitz cringed, doubling over to grasp at his leg as an immense pain shot through it from a misstep on his part.

"Lavitz?" Dart jerked his head away from Shana toward Lavitz. "Are you ok?"

Lavitz answered by collapsing to his knees, teeth grit in agony.

"Lavitz!" Dart cried, rushing to kneel down next to him even if there was nothing he could do for him. Just being there was enough for him.

Shana sucked in a breath as she spun around, bringing a hand to her chest upon seeing Lavitz on the ground as a sure sign of her worry.

"Such a trifle wound." Lavitz grumbled, massaging the spot gently.

Shana frowned deeply. "Does it still hurt?" He really needed to cut out the act and admit he needed some help. She hated how guys were too proud to even ask for help sometimes.

Lavitz started to say no, stopping as another spike of pain shot through his leg. "A little bit." He sighed in bitter defeat.

Shana bent down with her hands on her knees to get a better look. Upon some scrutiny Shana's frown disappeared, replaced by a bright grin and a perky voice, "I learned first aid!" She volunteered, throwing an arm into the air. "I thought it would be useful." She lifted her head up in pride. "Particularly in times like these."

Dart snorted, coming to an off balance and rather startled stand. "Shana? Learning?" He laughed out loud. "That's something new!"

"Humph!" She looked away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Mr. So-and-so might come back injured at any moment." She reminded, monitoring his reaction from the corner of her eye.

Dart shrugged his hands, begrudgingly nodding in agreement. Heck, for all he knew she could have been learning it for when he showed back up. But it mattered not. What did, however, was Lavitz getting better. So when Dart spied the shack he grew pleased. "Let's use the shack over there." He pointed.

Lavitz shakily stood back up, forcing himself to walk the short distance to the shack to prove he was no weakling and certainly wasn't a burden.

"C'mon." Dart moved himself over to Lavitz's side. "Use me as a brace."

Lavitz didn't want to, but did at the same time. He had conflicting emotions, ones which were ultimately overshadowed by his desire to get back on his feet faster. "Alright." So he assumed his position with an arm around Dart's shoulder and they hobbled into the shack, Shana leading them.

The shack didn't seem like much of a home as they entered. It was hard to believe anyone did anything but store things in here at this point. There were an assortment of knotted ropes hanging from the ceiling and attached to all sorts of odd hooks and pulleys, boxes were stacked to the roof on three sides, a pyramid of logs resided against the last wall, and other random objects not of much use anymore were scattered on the floor. And everything was covered with a thick layer of dust.

Luckily, part of the discarded items was a couple of stools which Lavitz and Shana used for him to keep weight off his leg and her to treat him easier. Dart was left to do as he pleased, choosing to go out and scout the area, seeing to it that no Hellena warden was still snooping.

Shana worked at cleaning the wound as gently as possible, paying limited attention to Lavitz's reactions to her actions in the process.

Lavitz cringed continuously as she worked her way down the wound, the items she was using to cleanse the wound burning. It was supposed to help though.

After a few minutes she grabbed some bandages and began wrapping up his leg with the utmost care. It didn't matter that it wasn't like she would break his bones if too much pressure was applied, it was simply good practice.

"Here you go." Shana said sweetly as she finished wrapping his leg up in bandages.

"Thanks." Lavitz praised her, swinging his leg back and forth with ease. "It's much better now." He didn't know what in the world she'd done but he was now able to move his leg easily with extremely limited aches. Maybe she'd been right. All it needed was a little attention.

Dart was quickly approaching the cabin now after having done a full sweep of the land. Not only that, but he'd felt he'd given the other two plenty of time to deal with Lavitz's wound. "It seems we completely lost those fools from Hellena." He boasted as he stepped over the threshold.

Shana smiled sadly, standing and walking closer to Dart to look up into his crystal blue eyes. "Dart?" she murmured.

Dart nodded, prompting her to go on.

"Tell me…" She started, running her foot in circles on the floor. "…about these last five years."

Dart grew stiff as she reminded him of what he had failed to do on his journey, what happened to Seles because of his stubbornness, and most importantly what Shana was being put through too.

Shana instantly sensed his resentment toward the topic. Her eyes widened slightly and she clasped her hands at her chest for the millionth time. "It's okay, never mind!" She insisted, shaking the whole upper half of her body in the negative. "We don't have time for this now."

Dart sighed heavily, hanging his head and shutting his eyes tight for a minute before lifting it again and opening them when he was ready to speak. "It was a journey for revenge." He started strong. "It was a journey to find the guy who deprived me of something precious…and kill him." His teeth were gritted tight and his voice developed an edge unlike anything Shana had ever heard before.

Shana watched him struggle with his words with sorrow mingled with interest.

Lavitz merely listened to understand. Whatever this was he knew that it was a major part of his new friend and he wished to know every part of Dart that made him who he was today.

Dart licked his lips, inhaling deeply, before he was able to go on in a more even tone. "I couldn't tell you Shana. That's why I left by myself." He admitted in shame.

"The Black Monster?" Shana inquired tentatively. "I only know the name." She sighed, looking away from Dart in case some dark part of him showed in the depths of his eyes. "Nobody would tell me more about it because they said I was still too young." She grumbled in resentment.

Lavitz stared blankly back and forth at the two. "What is the Black Monster? What are you talking about?" He finally said after an extended period of silence on both their parts.

Dart turned his head slightly to look at Lavitz since he was the one that knew the least of this. "I have two homes." He grimaced lightly. "One is Seles, where I spend time with Shana." He walked forward, facing away from them so as to remain calm as he told this story. "The other is where I spent time with my parents, my first home, which was taken from me by the monster eighteen years ago – Neet."

As he recalled it, Dart's mind kept getting flashes of a memory. And what he got was a perfect picture. Everything was engulfed in flames, the once beautiful house were already scorched and blackened, many of said houses had already collapsed in on themselves, the animals were slaughtered, their blood covering the ground, and even the pools of water that lingered on the ground held molten lava instead of a drink as contents. But what stuck most in his mind was the image of the Black Monster in his five year old eyes as he looked back over his shoulder while his family ran up the hill away from the doomed village.

The creature had had a soldier of Mille Seseau by his throat and was speaking in a gritty voice which he, as a child, couldn't help but compare to the devil. And, worst of all, when the beast didn't get what he wanted he burnt the man in a black flame.

"It was when I was five years old. Neet was assaulted by the Black Monster. But…" He trailed off. "We were lucky." He laughed bitterly at his choice of words. Lucky. As if. "Only the three of us could get out from the village."

They had made it all the way up the hill so that they had a perfect view of the God forsaken city. It was just as awful then as it was now. The only thing remotely pleasant was when he watched his parents embrace. He didn't understand then that this was their way of saying goodbye.

Dart turned back to face his friends, teary eyed. "But my father returned to the village."

Both he and his mother watched him run back toward the town of flames which now reached the heights of the sky. But as his mother watched she grew worried. She pulled Dart into a hug for comfort, ruffling his hair as she contemplated her options.

"And my mother followed my father to the village to help everybody." He shook his head gravely. "But that's where the Black Monster was waiting."

Shana was biting at her nails as she took in all of this, all the things that everyone else in the village had refused to tell her. And she now understood why.

Lavitz, on the other hand, was not so on edge. He'd heard and witnessed so many tragic tales such as this that it was hard to be. However, he grew sorrier for Dart the more he spoke. He wished he could do something for him.

Dart lifted his head back up, wiping at his eyes hastily. "I was left alone, shivering, and waited for dawn."

As day broke the next day Dart emerged from his place in the large hollow tree at the top of the hill. He was still so scared that the monster of the night would be waiting for him, but he went anyway. He walked out into his town which was now nothing more than charred rubble, barely standing buildings, broken glass, and meaningless remains both of people and objects. There was only one thing that held Dart's interest as he started to cry over his losses.

"The sun revealed a foreign landscape. It was a completely transformed Neet." He said bitterly. "And…I found this." Dart grabbed a hold of his precious stone which hung from a string around his neck to show them, it glowing just as it had that day and every day since when he touched it.

Shana and Lavitz were speechless, not sure of what to make of this strange object.

"What I found on the ground was only this. It's a memento, the only thing my father carried around all the time." The thought made him smile wanly.

Shana smiled sadly. "Dart…it's okay. I understand." She made sure he understood this beyond a reasonable doubt. "It was complicated."

Dart sighed, letting his memento fall back down on his chest, the light fading. "Shana…I'm sorry I didn't tell you." He shook his head back and forth in shame of his own selfishness.

Shana waved her hands about, insisting in a high pitched tone. "It's okay!" She smiled softly, stepping close to him like she always enjoyed doing. "I knew you would tell me someday. So…don't say anymore." She touched his shoulder gently, staring sweetly into his eyes before backing up.

Lavitz crossed his arms over his chest. "So, you just came back from a journey to bring closure to the past?" He asked, brow furrowed.

Dart nodded faintly. "I'm still not there yet though."

Lavitz nodded in understanding. He knew what it meant to seek closure and not quite get there for so long. In a way, he still sought out closure to one of his past happenings. "You said Neet." Lavitz muttered thoughtfully. "It doesn't seem to be a village in this country."

Dart looked up at the ceiling, sighing "No, it was located farther north from here." He found himself chuckling at himself as he formed his next sentence. "I guess nobody even remembers its name anymore."

Shana and Lavitz silently agreed, not wanting to allow Dart to know what they were both thinking.

Dart looked back down at Lavitz as another thought hit him. "Lavitz, tell me. What is going on in this country?" He shook his head. "It's like a place I never knew."

He nodded. "Currently, our Kingdom of Basil is at war with the Imperial Sandora. The war has spread all over Serdio." He said grimly. He hated to think of all the problems that this senseless battle had caused and was going to cause.

"Why was the truce broken?" Dart crossed his arms over his chest, scowling lightly.

Lavitz gritted his teeth in frustration before opening his mouth to speak. "Because of the dragon." He said bitterly. "The legendary monster added weight to Sandora and broke the balance of power." He hated this fact more as he spoke of it. "Then Emperor Doel started to be more aggressive."

"Dragon!" Dart said in disbelief. "No-No way! Such a thing can be used in war?"

Lavitz was quick to jump to his feet, completely forgetting of his leg which actually didn't cause problems now. "Do you know something about it!" He growled angrily, shaking a fist at Dart.

He nodded, unaffected by Lavitz's misdirected anger. "I was swooped down on by a dragon before I entered Seles." The memory flashed back in his mind's eye, sending a shiver down his spine. "I was overwhelmed. There was no way to escape from it." He smiled slightly at the outcome and the beautiful woman staring coldly at him as she hushed him. "However, I was saved by a passing warrior. That's why I am still alive."

Lavitz moved a hand to his chin, supporting his elbow with his other hand as he turned away, contemplating this. "The dragon is advancing faster than I thought. We must do something or it'll be too late."

Dart shook his head heavily in the negative, a flare igniting in his blue eyes. "You mean more casualties?"

Lavitz lowered both hands, turning back around. "Yeah. It's a 'war'." He used his fingers as quotation marks. "Anyway, I have to go back to Indels Castle in Bale. There are so many things I have to report to King Albert." As he rambled he snapped his fingers, thinking of something. "You know what, Dart? You guys should come along with me." He smiled widely at the idea.

Dart looked curiously at him as did Shana, both wondering where he was going with this.

He was quick to clarify. "Minister Noish might know something about the Black Monster."

Dart nodded happily, smiling darkly at the thought. "I see. They're a royalty with a long history. I might be able to find out something new."

Lavitz's grin broadened. "It's a done deal." He raised his hand for a high five.

Dart gladly returned the sentiments, heading out the door in a run.

Lavitz was quick to follow him at the same paced.

This worried Shana and she called out to him as she followed. "Lavitz!"

Lavitz slowed, looking back at her over his shoulder as did Dart. "What's wrong?" He blinked confusedly.

Shana clasped her hands down at her waist, showing her timidness rather than her worry. "Don't take chances. You are not completely well." She was now by his side.

Lavitz stared at her for a moment before chuckling in amusement. "You'll make a good wife one day." This was his ultimate compliment toward her.

Shana giggled softly. "Thanks!" She wished Dart would think the same.

Dart wanted to get a move on, not stand around and talk about nonsense like marriage. "Let's go." He barked to try and get their attention.

Lavitz and Shana looked to each other then back to Dart, nodding, before they fell into line.

Dart led them up the sharp hill just past the shack. As they went he wanted to believe that this would get them somewhere, but at the same time he knew it wouldn't. It was going too high to take them anywhere but to a precipice watching over the vast nothingness of the prairie.

And he was right.

Upon reaching the very top there was little more than an amazing view. It was kind of a letdown. Now they'd have to either go back through the forest to Seles or take the path swarming with Hellena wardens. But he supposed it was at least good that Shana was enjoying herself.

"Oh, Dart! Isn't it beautiful?" She cooed, sighing contentedly as she took in every detail of the land. There were even some wardens in the distance. But it somehow didn't bother her.

Dart might have joined her if he wasn't so stressed, but right now he was trying his best to formulate a plan to save all their skins. So he simply leaned back against the wall of a cliff which reached higher, crossed his arms, and got lost in thought.

Lavitz, although just as serious about getting away from here and to Bale, decided it was best to relax a moment. The time in the shack hadn't really counted for him since it was first tainted by him being hurt and later Dart's story. So he settled down on the edge of the cliff, dangling his legs over the edge.

Shana rather liked Lavitz's move, and mirrored him almost perfectly, wrapping her arm around a near falling tree as she settled herself. "Ah…" She sighed. "Isn't it nice?"

Lavitz nodded. "Uh-huh. And it's especially nice because it's been so long since I've just sat and smelled the roses so to speak." He smiled warmly, looking at her instead of the scenery. "It's been even longer since I've done that with a woman other than my mother."

Shana laughed lightly at Lavitz, bringing a hand up to her mouth to try and stop herself.

Instead of growing embarrassed like he thought he knew he would, he found himself grinning wider. For some reason it wasn't bad to have her laughing at him over such a thing when, with any other woman, he would have ducked his head in shame. "It's pretty sad, isn't it?" He chortled.

Shana lowered her hand back on the grass. "No…it's just funny." She shrugged. "Most guys would never admit to still doing things with their mom. I know Dart wouldn't." She glanced over at him for a split second, looking back at Lavitz when she realized he wasn't listening at all.

Dart actually had been listening despite what it looked like. He'd heard his name and had even looked out of the corner of his eye at them. But he didn't say a word. He didn't want to lose his concentration more than he already had.

Lavitz shrugged. "She's all I've got." He muttered with a twinge of bitterness. "Being a knight doesn't exactly give me limitless time to court a bunch of girls like some people."

Shana frowned slightly, seeing the disdain he had to some part of what he said. Did he regret what he did? Did he not like his father for something? Or…had he merely lost him before truly getting to know him? "I get it." She nodded, flipping her hair back behind her ears with a hand.

He knew she didn't at all. She couldn't. But he was enjoying her company too much to contradict her. So instead he turned the conversation spotlight onto her. "So, what about you?"

Shana blinked confusedly. "Me? What do you mean?"

"How often have you done this?" He waved his hand about to signal the area around them as well as them in general.

"Oh!" She squeaked before smiling with an almost infatuated look. "Dart and I used to do this all the time before he left. It was one of the best parts of the day." She admitted, staring off into space as she thought back to the days when life had seemed so easy and simple.

Lavitz recognized that look anywhere and he found himself chuckling under his breath. Dart was so dense and rather lucky. Shana was quite a catch.

"Lavitz." Dart called.

Lavitz perked at the mention of his name. "What is it Dart?" He pushed up off the ground to walk and stand in front of Dart. "You thought of something?"

He nodded. "That tree over there." He pointed with his head. "It's nearly falling, so I thought…" He unsheathed his sword. "…maybe we could cut it down and use it as a bridge on the river." He raised a brow at Lavitz to signal him to give his opinion.

Lavitz scratched his chin like he almost always did when he was mulling something over. "I don't know…" He muttered.

"What's wrong?" Dart pressed, curious as to what he was rebuking exactly.

Lavitz shook his head. "Your sword's sharp, but cutting that tree down, no matter how close it is to falling, will make it pretty dull." He observed.

Dart grimaced, looking over his sword sadly. "Yeah…you're probably right." He sighed, sheathing his sword with a letdown demeanor. "But what are we supposed to do then?"

"Hmm…" He murmured, tapping his foot.

Shana had been listening, upper body turned toward them, as they went back and forth. And now that they seemed to come to a stalemate she figured she could slip into the conversation. "Hey, guys." She piped up, rising to her feet and heading to them.

The pair looked over at her, both equally surprised by how she looked as she walked toward them. The way the light hit her in that moment made her practically glow like that of an angel. But they both realized it was just a trick of the eye, so they easily snapped out of it.

"You were talking about the tree, right?" She asked sweetly, hands together behind her back. "Well, I think I saw an ax in that old shack when I was tending to Lavitz."

Lavitz didn't like the way she had put that. It made it sound as if she had been looking around at anything but his leg as she fixed it. Maybe that was why it felt so good. Maybe she had done something to make it numb. Lavitz grimaced.

"Really?" Dart chirped. "That's great Shana!"

Shana blushed lightly, dragging a foot in circles on the dirt. "It's nothing."

"Let's hop to it then!" Dart cried, clapping his hands together.

His friends nodded and the three ran back down the steep hill to the shack, acting as if it were a race to win favor. Whoever got to the ax first would be better.

Dart was the fastest and reached the shack first in line, stopping as he stood in the center of the room. "Where are you?" He muttered to himself, looking over the area with the utmost attention. He finally laid eyes on it as the other two stepped over the threshold. "Here it is!" He said to them, going over to and lifting the object up from the floor.

"See?" Shana said proudly, placing her hands on her hips and lifting her head into the air. She hoped more than anything that Dart would see or, more importantly, say something.

Lavitz walked past Shana so he could get a closer look at the thing. "Hm, it's pretty well-worn." He concluded. "It'll definitely work though."

Dart nodded. "Yep." He put the ax over his shoulder. "Shana, you can stay here if you want. You don't need to run around unnecessarily."

Shana frowned deeply before scowling heatedly at Dart. "So you're basically telling me you don't need me to cut down or move the tree. In fact, you're probably saying I'd be in the way. That's it. Isn't it!" She snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away.

Dart ducked his head ever so slightly as she berated him, only standing straight again once she turned away. "Shana." He sighed. "I'm just trying to look out for you." He half lied. She was actually kind of right. He didn't need her for the heavy lifting work and thought she'd just slow the progress.

"Humph!"

"Let her come." Lavitz reasoned. "She isn't like other women. She won't get in the way."

Dart wanted to say no to them both and reason right back, but he found himself unable to. He didn't have the strength to fight right now. "Fine." He grumbled. "But you have to be careful." He warned her.

Shana brightened again, spinning around to him. "Ok!" She nodded so energetically that she moved the whole upper half of her body.

Lavitz smiled at her enthusiasm, chuckling lightly. She really was like a child no matter that she was eighteen.

They wandered at a slower pace back up the cliff. Dart was hoping the longer it took the more likely Shana was to reconsider and go back down to wait at the cabin. But, of course, nothing ever went Dart's way and Shana trailed all the way, a bounce in her step. But at least she stayed back with Lavitz he supposed.

When Dart readied to chop the tree he made sure to warn the two off. "Stay back." He waved them back.

Shana nodded happily, while Lavitz crossed his arms with slight annoyance as he leaned back on the wall of the cliff.

Once Dart was sure of the distance between them he reared the axe back and whacked the tree. It made a creaking sound, but still held strong. So Dart hit it again.

The tree then started to lean over slowly. One more hit should do it. Dart looked over his shoulder back at Lavitz. "Get ready!" he ordered.

Lavitz nodded at him, lowering his hands to his side and stepping forward a bit to prepare to jump on the tree.

Dart hit the tree one last time and the bond was broken.

This was Lavitz's signal to jump in on it. He joined Dart in grabbing tightly onto the heavy tree's bottom edges and pulling with all that was in him. They even grappled with gravity so intensely that it felt like their blood vessels were fully visible on their heads and arms.

But it was a fruitless effort.

The tree was dragging them closer to the edge more than they were pulling it back up and they were forced to release the thing.

Lavitz was especially close to the edge due to his stubbornness, having to leap back as he finally let go to insure he had solid footing. "Shoot!" Lavitz cried, going back to the edge to kneel and try to see where the tree went.

Dart did the same, losing the object as it fell through a thick layer of mist.

Shana had jumped forward some too as they'd dropped the object, leaning over with her hands on her knees as a sign she was as disappointed too.

Dart rose back up into a standing position after a minute of staring at nothing. "We'll have to think about another way I guess." He sighed, hanging his head sadly as he shook it slowly back and forth.

Shana stood back to her full height, nodding in a letdown manner as she moved over to stand by Dart. Maybe he could use some comfort.

Lavitz slowly stood up, not able to believe himself when he heard a faint splash. He perked, jerking his head back in the direction the log had fallen.

"Lavitz." Dart said to him. "We have to go."

Lavitz kept his eyes on the empty space over the cliff as he walked automatically back to Dart.

As they walked dejectedly back down Dart figured it best to take a vote, or so to speak anyway. "So, where to now?" He grumbled.

Shana shrugged. "We could go back to Seles." She offered.

Dart both liked and disliked this idea. It was nice because he would love to go and see how everyone was doing now, but he didn't find it suitable because there had been Hellena wardens all over the forest last time they'd wandered too close. Who was to say they weren't still there?

Dart looked at Lavitz, silently saying it was his turn to speak.

Lavitz almost didn't notice as he was still deep in thought over if he had truly heard the log hit water or if it had been nothing more than his imagination. Regardless, he finally added his input. "We should go back to the river."

"What? Why?" Dart asked incredulously, making a face at his friend.

"Back there," He nodded his head backward, "I thought I heard it hit the water." He probably should have clarified in his first statement. It would have helped him avoid the strange look Dart was giving him.

Dart frowned slightly. "Are you sure?" He stopped walking, fully facing Lavitz.

Lavitz nodded. "Sure enough." A pause. "Besides, it wouldn't hurt to go and look, would it?" He shrugged.

Dart crossed his arms over his chest. "No, I don't suppose."

"Hey, guys!" Shana called to them in a sing song voice from far in front. "Are you gonna come or just stand there all day?"

Both men snapped to attention. "Hey!" They cried in unison as they sprinted to catch up to her while she continued to walk on. "Wait up!"

Shana laughed sweetly at the men, lifting her head up to the sky to see the bright sun looking back at her.

After catching up to Shana and regaining their breaths the group proceeded to backtrack the few hour trip to the river.

Along the way they say a few creatures such as rabbits, squirrels, birds, and even a few butterflies. In fact, one butterfly was so bold as to land right on Shana's finger as she stretched her arm out for it.

She giggled at its touch. "It tickles."

Dart and Lavitz smiled at her, finding it cute how she managed to tame even the most timid creatures. It was like she was some kind of keeper of nature.

"It's pretty too." Dart spoke up, walking toward her. "See all the colors on its wings?" He pointed out. There was a mix of blue, orange, white, and dark blue verging on black.

"What is it?" Shana inquired, looking up at Dart.

Dart grimaced. Of course. Of course she'd ask him the one thing he had no clue about. "I…" He started, not getting enough time to even come up with an excuse before Lavitz was talking.

"It's a red-spotted purple butterfly." He said with certainty. "See all the spots of orange and the blue outlining the black edges of the wings." He pointed from far enough away so that the creature wouldn't run.

Shana frowned deeply. "But why not the orange spotted blue butterfly if it isn't red or purple?" She was truly confused.

Lavitz shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe some idiot was colorblind when he named it." He laughed heartily at his joke.

Shana giggled a bit too, startling the butterfly enough so that it pushed off of her finger to fly away. "Aw…" She muttered sadly.

Dart didn't like how Lavitz had showed him up like that, but he was glad Shana had gotten an answer. So he let his jealousy die as quick as it had come. Instead he decided it was time to go on. "We'll see a lot of other animals later. Let's get going."

By the time they reached the river what they'd hoped would float down to them was already set firm in place. The tree was stopped on two decent sized rocks that stuck up out of the water, creating the perfect bridge.

"Yes!" Dart cried, pumping his fist in the air.

"See?" Lavitz said simply. It was not in his nature to brag on most accounts. Not only that, but as a knight it was looked down upon to gloat.

"Now we can cross the river." Dart said with pleasure accompanied by a firm nod.

Dart went across first, not bothering to go slower because of the unstable nature of the bridge. Lavitz followed at a slightly slower pace since he feared water in general and especially feared falling into it if he were to go to fast, and last came Shana. She went slower than the others, stretching her arms out on both sides so she would have even better balance than with just going slow. And, after one stumble, she made it to the other side.

Dart held out his hand for her to take, helping her safely off of the tree before sighing heavily in relief. "You ok?"

"I'm fine." She insisted. "It was just a stumble." She shrugged, knowing that his concern was not because he loved her but because he loved her as a sister. If only it was different.

"We're nearly there." Lavitz informed them. "There should be a cave up ahead and after that Bale will be within sight." He was so incredibly happy at the prospect of seeing his home again when not long ago he'd thought he might never return, forever trapped in the hell of Hellena.

"Cool." Dart said with a smile.

Another mile down the path and they saw the cave which Lavitz had spoken of. It was large, reaching thirty feet into the air, with the same type of opening which Hellena had. Dart had to wonder if they'd gotten their design ideas from this natural formation.

But as they grew even closer they saw something else.

Lavitz did a double take as he thought he saw a group of three, a mother, father, and child, standing on the path. He didn't understand why they were so far from any town so he was quick to approach them in order to find out. "You look like civilians." He stated, scratching his head in confusion. "Why are you out here? What's the matter?"

The father's face became contorted in rage, his hands clenching tightly as he quaked from fury. He even was so bold as to jump forward, inches from Lavitz's face as he spewed venom. "What do you mean, 'What's the matter'!" he spat. "It's your knight's fault!" He jabbed a finger into Lavitz's chest.

Shana started at the man's harsh tone, looking on with wide eyes.

Dart crossed his arms over his chest and scowled lightly. He didn't like how this man was acting toward his friend.

Lavitz took a step away from the livid man, eyes wide and full of confusion. "Woah! Wait a minute!" He put his hands up in front of him in defense. "I am a knight of Basil. We should be allies."

The man shook his head fervently in the negative, throwing his hands up into the air to further showcase his anger and frustration. "I'm your enemy, idiot! We escaped from Sandora!"

The mother sucked in a sharp breath, covering her mouth in response to her husband's harshness. "Honey!" She warned. "Don't say that or we're gonna be arrested!"

He turned to his wife enough to see her, shaking his head in the negative. "B-But these knights destroyed our lives…" He tried to reason, voice losing its intensity and its volume.

The mother approached Lavitz, clasping her hands as she waited for him to turn to her before explaining. "We couldn't stand living in Kazas and ran away from there." She sighed sadly. "Please excuse us…"

Lavitz shook his head. "You don't need to excuse yourself." He smiled warmly. "King Albert always lends a helping hand to sufferers, even those of an enemy country."

"What?" The father said meekly.

Lavitz didn't exactly ignore the man, but he didn't respond in favor of his son. "Son, are you hungry?"

The boy was tentative to respond, looking to both his father and mother before finally answering. "Yes."

Lavitz bent down to the kid's level, pulling from his things a loaf of bread. "Then have this."

The boy didn't understand this soldier's, this enemy soldier's, kindness. He'd been told for so long that all Basil soldiers and even the people were rotten to the core. Nevertheless he took the food. "T-Thank you."

"You…" The father trailed off, not knowing what to say in response to kindness. All he'd ever known was to be harsh.

Lavitz walked a ways down the path before pointing out toward the cave. "If you go through here, you'll find Bale." He turned back to them. "You can go there if you like."

"B-But we don't know anybody." The father muttered.

Lavitz walked back to stand a foot from the man. "Why don't you go to my house? It's too big for my mother and me anyway." He shrugged.

"You are?" The father asked, almost needing to know who was so willing to give out such an abundance of kindness.

Lavitz placed both hands on his hips, standing tall and proud. "My name is Lavitz. I am a knight in the service of King Albert."

"Th-Thank you very much." The mother sighed, feeling at ease for the first time since the start of this war, twenty years back.

The father was right there with her in handing out his praises. "How kind of you, Sir Lavitz!"

Lavitz rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "It's nothing."

The family moved back to the side, smiles on their faces as they started to talk of doing as Lavitz had said.

"Let's go guys." Lavitz half ordered the two, turning and walking off at a slow pace without waiting for a reply.

"Lavitz!" Shana called, running to catch up.

"What?" He looked over to see that her face was softer than usual.

"That was so kind of you." She sighed, hands swaying gently back and forth at her side.

Lavitz felt a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth as she too complimented his actions. "It's what I do." He shrugged.

Shana shook her head. "No…it's what you choose to do. Most people, even knights, wouldn't think twice about just passing those people by." She admired this quality in him.

Lavitz had never thought that way, thinking that caring about everyone came hand in hand with being a knight. It was the right thing to do. But…maybe she was right. Maybe he did what he did out of instinct and a desire to protect others, not because of his status. "Yeah…I guess you're right…"

Shana's smile widened as she looked heartily at him just as did to her.

"So…" Dart started, falling into stride with the other two. "How long is this cave?"

"The better part of a day. It's one of the biggest in Serdio." He didn't look away from Shana as he said this.

"Then maybe we should kind of camp out outside." Shana suggested. "Sleeping in a cave gives me the creeps." She shivered at the thought.

Dart chuckled. "Don't worry Shana; we'll get through before we have to sleep." He paused, adding after a moment of thought. "And if we don't I'll protect you." He said with an air of superiority.

Shana rolled her eyes. "I don't mean about the monsters. It's just…lying on the ground in there. Bleh!" She shook her hands as if what she spoke of was touching her in that instant.

"It won't kill us to stop right here." Lavitz shrugged. "And…I kind of agree." Lavitz admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"Lavitz!" Dart said in disbelief. "You're a knight! How can you think that's weird?"

"Because I never have to camp out in caves as a knight, that's how." He said with a firm nod, dropping down to the ground without a second thought.

Dart shook his head. "I can't believe you sometimes." He snickered, lowering himself to the ground.

Shana had momentarily forgotten what they'd been talking about as a distant sound from within the cave caught her attention. She stared off toward it with a worried look, a hand clenched at her chest. What was that…?

"Shana!" Dart half yelled after having tried to garner her attention multiple times by this point.

Shana jumped slightly at the sudden intrusion into her thoughts, almost thinking that whatever made that sound was about to get her. Upon realizing what it really was she turned her gaze toward Dart.

"Are you gonna sit down with us or what?" He laughed, patting the spot beside him.

Shana looked back to the entrance of the cave once more, swearing she still heard faint sounds of something or another deep within before she brought herself back to reality and sat down in her place. "So…who gets to tell a story tonight?"


	4. Cave of the Serpent

**Here's the next chapter. The first major battle scene I ever wrote is in this one. So if it sucks, that's why.**

The night came and went like all the others before, with tension levels high and fear of being found again just as prominent. Dart was even so afraid of losing his sister that he stayed up all night keeping watch, or at least he tried.

At about three in the morning Lavitz woke to find him sitting and nearly drifting off. So, after ridding his eyes of any eye crusts, he got up from his place on the ground and meandered over to Dart. "Still up, huh?" He said with a smile, sitting down on the stone beside Dart.

Dart jumped slightly from the sudden break in the silence, one hand instantly going to his sword before he saw it was merely Lavitz. "Lavitz, don't do that." He sighed. "Sneaking up on me could get you hurt."

Lavitz snorted at his friend. "Nah. You aren't that much of a loose cannon." He chuckled. "And besides, you're too tired to do anything now."

Dart rubbed at his eyes as he formulated something to counter with. "Tired? I'm not tired!" As the words passed his lips a yawn escaped him.

This made Lavitz laugh. "Yeah, and I'm a fairy in disguise." He said, pointing at Dart's face.

Dart scowled at such an accusation, no matter how accurate it was. "I'm not lying." He grumbled, pushing Lavitz's hand away.

"Look, dude, I know you're tired. It's obvious. And I also know you're forcing yourself to stay up because of Shana." He decided he wouldn't look at Dart since all Dart was doing was giving him dirty looks, instead he lifted his head to the sky as he continued. "But seriously, you need your rest. It's not like we're being chased anymore anyway." He shrugged.

Dart shook his head fervently. "But…but what if you're wrong!" He tried to rebuke him. "What if they come looking and find us again and we're not ready!" He was growing more hysterical the more he spoke.

Lavitz eyes widened at his friend's franticness and he placed a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him. "Dart, relax." He said sternly, looking him dead in the eye. "That's not going to happen. I swear."

"But…" Dart murmured sleepily, anger dissipating.

Lavitz shook his head. "Go on. It'll be fine. I mean, come on. I **am** a knight here." He laughed.

Dart forced a half smile before finally admitting defeat. "Ok." He rose up off his place on the stone to go over closer to Shana and settle down on the ground.

Lavitz resituated himself on the stone as soon as he was sure Dart had his eyes closed and was done moving. This way he'd at least be comfortable for these next few hours.

Lavitz sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't really want to do this. It honestly wasn't necessary. He looked back over his shoulder at Dart who now had an arm around Shana as he lay beside her. Lavitz smiled at this. But he'd do it for Dart if for no other reason.

And Lavitz really did it too. He stayed up until Dart awoke again as the sun rose.

"I can't believe you did it." Dart said in amazement. "You really stayed up all night." He sat by Lavitz like earlier.

Lavitz, unlike Dart at three, did not flinch. He just tilted his head to the side in order to see Dart's face. "Of course I did." He nodded. "You're my friend. It doesn't bother me to do such things in order to calm you down or keep you content." He shrugged, smiling wanly.

Dart blinked a couple times as he stared at Lavitz, not quite sure what to make of his loyalty. It was definitely nice to have someone like him around, no doubt about that. But it was something he wasn't particularly used to. He was typically a loner. Yet…he found himself smiling right back at Lavitz. "Likewise." Dart held out a fist.

Lavitz looked at it for a split second before seeing what he was supposed to do, laughing lightly as he hit his fist against Dart's happily.

Dart laughed with him, taking a standing position shortly after. "How about we plan a route through the cave while we wait for Shana to wake up?" Dart offered.

Lavitz shrugged. "Why not?" He said, a wider smile finding its way onto his lips. He quickly got up and wandered the short distance over to the entrance.

Dart followed at a similar pace, stopping beside him. "Well, you're the expert here. What's the best way through?"

Lavitz loved the feeling he got from being the smart one and he was practically glowing as he explained it. "There's really only one way through. Any other way will take you to a dead end." He walked in a ways to show Dart something. "And you see these?" Lavitz pointed up to the ceiling.

Dart moved closer to see. "Yeah, what about it?" He looked away from the objects to watch Lavitz.

"They're stalactites." He said simply.

Dart waited a moment to see if Lavitz would elaborate on his own. Once he realized this wasn't going to happen he asked, "Yeah, but why are they so important?"

"Oh, right. Well, they aren't the most stable things and if you aren't careful or are too loud they can fall and make one hell of a stab wound." He breathed in a breath before continuing. "So basically, don't scream once we get in here or you could get impaled. That's all." He said with a shrug.

"I'll be sure to remember that." Dart nodded. "Anything else?"

"We have to be extra careful to stick together." Lavitz warned with evident worry. "There are too many paths to count in this place and next to all of them will go on for what feels like forever when really it only leads to a dead end or a drop." A shiver ran up his spin as he spoke.

Dart raised a brow. It sounded as if this had happened to him before and it had scared him half to death and nearly killed him. "Alright, then you get to be the leader this time." Dart gave him permission.

Lavitz nodded. "That's fine with me." He walked back out of the cave, turning back toward Dart as he stopped. "And it'll help speed up the pace." He said brightly.

Dart smiled at the prospect of getting through this dark, damp, and most likely dangerous place faster.

As the men went on about what they would do upon reaching Bale the petite girl started to stir. She let out a soft yawn as and sat up to stretch her arms high over her head and her legs wide. "Dart…?" She muttered quietly, looking with half open eyes around her.

"So you and the king are pretty tight, huh?" Dart's voice floated to Shana.

Lavitz shrugged. "I guess you could say that."

Shana stood up slowly, getting her bearings as she looked over her shoulder toward the sound of their voices. "Dart." She said to herself, smiling as she walked over in their direction.

"That sounds good." Dart agreed, hitting fists with Lavitz once more before he finally noticed Shana's figure approaching them.

Lavitz saw Dart's shift in attention and thus saw Shana coming as well. "Looks like the princess is awake." He laughed, leaving Dart's side to go to her.

Dart rubbed his head lightly. "Princess…?" He questioned the empty spot next to him before following after Lavitz to meet Shana.

"Hi, Lavitz…Dart." Shana said sweetly, hands clasped in front of her waist.

"Hey there." Lavitz answered quickly, waving. "How'd you sleep?"

Shana smiled softly at him. "Better than since I was taken to Hellena or any other point after." She grimaced at the memories of Seles being destroyed and her time at Hellena.

"That's good." He nodded.

"Hey Shana." Dart said with a bright smile on his face as he moved to her side and hugged her gently, his arm around her upper back and hand resting on her shoulder. "Glad to see you're up." He released her, moving back in front of her.

Shana's smile widened as she nodded with energy. "You too."

Lavitz had to be the one to say this had to end because of two reasons. One, he knew that Shana would prefer Lavitz to break up the moment instead of Dart. At least, it would make her feel like Dart would rather stay here in this moment with her. And two, they had to go. "Well, we should get going." Lavitz motioned to the cave entrance.

Shana looked to Dart and then back to Lavitz, nodding. "Yes. I've already cost you time."

Dart grimaced. "No, you didn't. We weren't going to go until now anyway." He smiled at her, laying a hand on her upper arm gently.

Shana sucked in a soft breath at the contact, eyes widening slightly. "Ok…" She murmured, snapping out of it shortly after and stepping back from him despite her heart's desire.

"Lead the way then, Lavitz." Dart ordered, nodding toward the cave. "We don't want to get lost." He cracked a smile as he looked to him.

Lavitz smiled back, nodding. "Follow me."

As they entered the cave the scenery changed drastically in a blink of an eye. The once lush grass at their feet vanished. Instead there was nothing but uneven rocky terrain. Not only that, but much of the path appeared to be rather unstable, chunks of deformed rocks hanging off of the sides or underneath the path. Some thinner walkways were just supported by an even thinner strand of rock that disappeared in the water which ran through the entirety of the cave.

"Oh!" Dart remembered, turning to Shana. "Don't be too loud, ok?"

Shana didn't question the purpose behind his warning, just did as she was told. She nodded the whole upper half of her body. "Ok!"

They crossed over the first thin pathway as Dart mentioned this, tons of tiny stalactites hanging up above the point and at random places after.

After crossing the worrisome walkway Lavitz took them down a path that lead forward instead of an equally plausible one which would have taken them to the right.

As they passed it by Dart couldn't help but look back at it, wondering what lied beyond. But he didn't let himself lose his way from the others. He made sure to stay close, mind forgetting about the unexplored way as he was forced to focus more and more.

Soon after Lavitz cut hard left and then turned back forward into a darkened path.

Shana walked slowly, keeping a sharp eye on every bit of her surroundings. She didn't like how Lavitz was choosing all the scariest looking ways either. It brought her mind back to the sounds she had heard late last night and she hated it.

Lavitz saw, out of the corner of his eye, that she was uneasy. And to further test how badly she was afraid he did what he probably shouldn't have and kicked a pebble hard across the floor.

Shana let out a high pitched cry, jumping back a good foot and running into Dart.

"Shana!" he snapped in a hushed tone. "Don't be so loud."

Shana turned around to face Dart, lowering her head some in shame. "Sorry…"

Lavitz chuckled at her, turning around to better speak to her. "Relax, Shana." Lavitz placed a hand on her shoulder.

She jumped again, swirling around before covering her mouth this time with both hands so as not to be too loud.

Lavitz snorted at how jumpy she managed to be. "There's nothing to be afraid of." He assured her, patting her shoulder as she now faced him, knowing she wouldn't be afraid of his touch since she saw it was merely him. "Only little critters crawl around in here and they are more afraid of you than you are of them, trust me."

Shana thought about this for a moment, mind flashing back to those sounds again. "Are you sure?" She asked tentatively, looking over his shoulder at a pair of tiny red eyes.

Lavitz followed her gaze, seeing what she saw and laughing. "I promise." He smiled. "And that is just a bat." He pointed back behind him at the red eyed creature.

Shana let out a heavy sigh. "Alright. I'll be braver." She nodded faintly, tuning out all the strange little sounds as they moved on.

They took a sharp right next, a left turn an hour later, and continued straight for another two hours. And at that point they finally left the increasing darkness to walk into a brighter area with an elevated ceiling. Despite this the walking space was highly cramped.

At this section there were only two paths to be taken, both of which were meant for one person after another, not for walking side by side. But according to Lavitz it mattered not which one was chosen for once.

"Basically, one is a rock path and the other water." He shrugged. "It was naturally formed, so it just kinda happened." And it was rather beautiful, they all agreed. Water spilled from the ceiling to their left down into what could've been just another rocky path. But instead this little detail transformed it into a pretty sight. Not only that, but the water pouring from the ceiling also created a mini waterfall in a break of the path.

Dart's face, which had remained blank through most of the trip, brightened. "Really? That's cool."

Shana knew that look anywhere and quickly added her two cents. "Oh no you don't!" She snapped. "You are not going down that way." She pointed at the waterway with a stern look on her face.

Dart eyed her strangely. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were my mom." Dart chortled.

"I mean it Dart." Shana growled, arms crossed firmly over her chest.

Dart rolled his eyes. "Look, it leads the same way the other one does so it's not like there's some extra path I'm gonna get swept down or anything." He tried to reason with her, not expecting her to listen either way. It was kind of the same as how he wasn't going to listen to her either.

Shana went to open her mouth to argue when Lavitz cut in. "Let him have his fun. Like he said, it won't kill him." He shrugged. "And if you're just scared of going alone I'll go with you." He offered with a sweet smile, extending his hand to her without thinking.

Shana watched Lavitz's hand carefully as he held it out to her, a small blush creeping onto her cheeks. Should she? She glanced back at Dart. Humph! He was already taking in every aspect of the slides and not paying a lick of attention to her. Fine, then. If he really wanted so little to do with her then she would go with Lavitz. Maybe then he'd get a little jealous at least.

"Shana?" Lavitz prompted, looking at her curiously.

Shana brought her eyes back to Lavitz, taking his hand in hers without a second thought. "See you at the bottom!" She yelled back at Dart as she pulled Lavitz along.

Lavitz let out a soft sound as she took the lead, a fire in her step all the way. And all the while he knew that she didn't take his hand because she thought of him like he thought about feeling for her, it was simply because she wanted to make Dart jealous and perhaps trick him into loving her back.

"Do we have to go so fast?" Lavitz laughed.

Shana's eyes flashed dangerously as if she might attack Lavitz, but they instantly simmered when she remembered it was not him she was mad at. So she sighed heavily, "I just want to be waiting when he gets down there. That's all." She shrugged, taking a firmer hold on Lavitz's hand while simultaneously slowing down despite her wish.

Lavitz stared sadly at the back of Shana's head as they went more slowly down the small path. He couldn't help but feel this way about her situation with Dart. If only Dart wasn't so blind.

Dart still hadn't made his way down the watery slopes, busy scanning the way the paths went and how he should handle them exactly. Aside from the main stream that went, curving slightly to the left first and then back to the right before landing you on a small space of land with some residual water trickling from it, there was that strange extra path that led off of it in an upward curve. It seemed rather impossible to get up around. It was more than that though. There was also that jump on the regular path which you had to get by or you would have quite a fall.

Dart scratched his head, wondering for a moment if he should have listened to Shana. But his questioning was short lived. He even laughed at himself before he jumped down into the stream, crying, "Woohoo!" He slid with speed that he originally didn't think he could reach when measuring the distance. And by the time he reached the jump he had just enough speed to clear the landing, grunting lightly on impact as he slid the remainder of the way down the slope. "Hella' ride!" He cried. "Yeah!" He loved the thrill it had garnered him and he was totally alive. Now to find Shana.

Lavitz and Shana were sitting waiting twenty feet away, twiddling their thumbs. "I knew he shouldn't have gone." Shana grumbled.

Lavitz shrugged. "It's a guy thing."

Shana narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious. "Then how come you didn't go dive in there with him?" She leaned in close to his face, hands on her hips. "If it's really 'a guy thing'."

Lavitz's face went pale and he felt his throat constrict. "I…I…" He struggled to get any words at all out of his mouth. This really wasn't a favorable subject for him.

Shana raised a brow, leaning back to her previous position with a confused look present. "What is it?" She asked tentatively. Had she scared him somehow? "Did I say something wrong?" She brought a hand to her mouth in nervousness.

Lavitz opened and closed his mouth repeatedly as if to say something, but didn't form the words. So after many attempts he just shook his head faintly in the negative.

Shana didn't believe him one bit. "Really?" she pressed, eyes saddening.

"I…" He trailed off. "I just don't like water." He admitted shamefully, jerking his head away from her so he didn't have to look into her questioning, sad eyes.

Shana smiled sadly. "It's ok. Everyone's afraid of something." She tried comforting, hugging him quickly before standing up as she saw Dart.

Lavitz stared after her as she walked off, feeling only slightly better about his weakness. No one, not even someone as sweet and innocent as Shana could make him feel different about something like this.

"Took you long enough." Shana scolded, hugging him despite herself.

"Sorry." Dart shrugged, hugging her back for a split second before walking ahead to Lavitz. "So, where to next?" He queried, arms crossed over his chest.

Lavitz rose to his feet, forcing the previous conversation away from his mind. "The only way there is." He half laughed.

Dart nodded. "Then I'll go first." He said simply, walking on without another word.

Shana started to follow like a puppy, stopping as she remembered Lavitz. "Are you sure you're ok?" She thought to ask.

Lavitz smiled painfully. "Yeah."

Shana smiled in a similar fashion before turning back forward and going after Dart.

It took him a minute more, but Lavitz eventually followed after the two. All he had to do was tell himself that he shouldn't be bothered by mere questions over the matter. It wasn't like they hurt.

A minute or so later the group came upon an area that was nothing but a river of water that led over a waterfall with quite a drop, much more of one than the one in the other room. There were only a few small standing areas and a trail of stones leading to each one.

"Hmm…stepping stones…" Dart murmured, crossing his arms over his chest in thought. He turned to Shana and let his arm fall to his side after weighing the consequences. "Shana, be careful not to slip."

Shana nodded shortly. "Ok."

Dart immediately took his usual position at the front, forgetting that Lavitz was the guide this time around. And besides, there was only one way out of this room. It was impossible to get lost.

Shana thought of how Lavitz had said he didn't like water and she looked over at him in concern.

"You first." Lavitz said in nonchalance, waving her on.

Shana did as he wanted, carefully hopping on after Dart.

Lavitz let them get ahead, mind battling with his body over what he should do. His mind feared a repetition of the past while his body needed to go on to follow his friends. And in the end his body won out. He jumped quickly from stone to stone to catch up with the others.

Dart was already to the end and Shana was one behind him, so the two had ample time to turn around to watch for Lavitz.

"Come on, Lavitz!" Dart cupped his hands around his mouth as he called, a smile in his tone. "You're lagging!"

Lavitz picked up the pace, closing the gap between them with haste. And he was on the last few stones when it happened

He lost his footing and fell.

"Lavitz!" Dart screamed, thoughtlessly bounding over to where he clung to the stone for dear life to reach for him.

Lavitz pupils were dilated to the highest point and the breath was completely sucked from his lungs the instant he felt himself falling. Even the fact that he'd managed to grab onto something wasn't helping. He was petrified.

Dart got a hold of Lavitz's arm even without his friends help. "Give me your hand." He pleaded, reaching out for his other one that clung to the stone just out of his reach.

Lavitz reached shakily up for him, latching onto his hand with all the strength in him.

Dart still held his breath as he pulled up, sweat starting to form.

As Lavitz was slowly lifted he put his foot up on the edge of the rock so he could do the pulling instead of Dart. But he just made things worse.

His foot slid off, gravity jerking him down further in an instant.

Dart lurched forward as well, flat on his stomach as he struggled to pull both him and his friend up.

"Dart! Lavitz!" Shana shrieked, horrified.

Both the men's hearts beat fast in their chests as they hung precariously, Dart being their only hope of avoiding dropping into the icy water below filled with sharp rocks.

"Help me…" Lavitz begged pitifully, tears stinging his eyes.

An adrenaline rush like none other shot through Dart's body and he found the strength to lift his weight and Lavitz's, dragging Lavitz up far enough so that he was able to hold onto the rock securely.

Lavitz pulled on his own to a degree as he watched Dart get back on his knees.

Dart quickly extended a hand when he was secure which he easily pulled Lavitz the remainder of the way up with before he bounded back to safely, doubling over from exhaustion the second he touched down.

Lavitz wiped at his forehead as he felt the ground beneath his feet again and then sprang forward the same as Dart before he too doubled over.

Shana was so incredibly relieved as she saw the two return to her and she instantly went to their sides. "Are you alright!" She exclaimed

They continued to breathe in and out heavily for a long time, Lavitz even having to sit down to recover. _You could have died. You really could have died, _his mind echoed. But not just that, he'd nearly cost Dart his life as well. He should have been more careful. If he had been none of this would have happened! He was so pathetic!

Shana finished looking over Dart and dropped to Lavitz's side. "Are you ok?" She muttered softly, more so than with Dart due to what she knew of him.

For some reason Shana's voice was enough to snap him out of his self-hating state and back to reality. What was he saying? Yeah, he messed up. But why was he getting so worked up about something that didn't happen? They were still here, all of them. They weren't hurt. He should be glad. He should be giving praises. And most importantly he should be thanking Dart.

Dart was still huffing as Lavitz rose back to his feet, nodding to Shana to answer her before he spoke with gratitude. "This is the second time you saved my life." He sighed, muscles finally untensing and heart rate slowing.

"I…was just…around." Dart managed between breaths, leaning back to sit on a rock that jutted out from the wall.

"Even though that was the case," Lavitz moved forward a step, smiling wide. "I was lucky you were around, Dart." He insisted, turning about and walking away some before placing his hands on his hips to ponder if Dart would agree with what he would say next. Upon finding it suitable he turned back toward him. "It'll be a long relationship we'll have." Lavitz stretched his arms out wide to signify the length.

Dart hopped to his feet, well again. "Yup, that's right." He nodded, hitting Lavitz lightly on the shoulder.

Lavitz did the same back to him, fears long gone.

Dart smiled to match his, hitting Lavitz one last time.

"This will be quite a story to tell." Lavitz laughed, words directed solely at Dart.

Dart nodded vibrantly. "You bet." He walked on ahead, Lavitz following at his side to hear what else he had to say. "But who to tell?" He pondered.

"We could at least tell some of the knights." Lavitz offered.

"What about your mother?" Dart countered with a shrug.

"God, no!" Lavitz denied. "She'd have a heart attack!"

Shana stood there a second, staring blankly after them as if she expected them to turn back at any moment to tell her to come along. But they didn't. "H-Hey! Excuse me, you guys!" She started running, waving her hands like crazy as a scowl formed on her face. "Don't leave me like that!"

The scenery changed on them again as they walked. Now they were in a blue mist filled room, paths elevated high off an unseeable floor, which was much smoother looking, by firm cylinder-like supports. And this particular place had four or five paths branching off in different directions.

"Looks like we're in one of those tricky spots you're good at navigating." Dart noted.

Lavitz nodded. "It's this way." He pointed to the southeast, stepping in front of Dart to better lead the way for them.

As they walked side by side with Lavitz being the only one out of line Dart noticed something to the side of where they were heading. "Hey! Check it out Lavitz." Dart pointed, diverting way from the group.

Lavitz stopped, looking back over his shoulder. "Oh, cool." He muttered with a smile, going back around Shana to follow Dart to the swarm of lights.

Shana let out a soft sound of surprise, jumping and scurrying after the two men. "Guys!" She chirped.

Dart and Lavitz stood on opposite sides of the glowing balls of light as Dart bothered to verbalize what they were. "These are Rock Fireflies." Dart crossed his arms, looking back at Shana as she quickly approached to fill in the last space around the fireflies.

"Oh, you know a lot." She praised, turning toward him as she clasped her hands and smiled brightly up at him.

Dart shrugged, happy to be given the attention he desired from Shana for once. "Well, I used to be saved by these a lot."

Lavitz nodded swiftly in agreement. "Me too. In particular the ones close to a battlefield were helpful." He remembered his latest battle where he'd been captured and how there had been a few groups of these, just not within a close enough range.

Shana looked from Lavitz to Dart and back again, moving faster each time. "Excuse me." She grumbled after a time, tired of waiting for them to speak and annoyed at turning from one back to the other. "Don't just chat amongst yourselves and leave me out. Tell me what they do!" she demanded.

Instead of telling her, Dart showed her. He waved his hands around in the bunch of fireflies, flustering them and causing them to glow even brighter than they already were until the light they gave off was blinding.

"Oh!" Shana exclaimed. "Oh boy!"

As the light faded Lavitz made sure to clarify in case Shana still didn't get it a hundred percent. "The light from a Rock Firefly has a healing power."

Shana nodded at him in understanding, smiling from both the joy of learning something and the elated feeling she was given by being healed by these interesting creatures.

Dart chuckled, shrugging. "Well, Shana learned at least one thing." He grinned broadly at her.

Shana scowled, smirking conceitedly a moment after as an idea struck her. "Well, well, I know something you don't know too, Dart." She teased, smile brighter than ever.

Dart's eyes widened and he felt himself stammering as he replied. "Wh-What is it?"

Shana laughed heartily, spreading her arms out around her as she spun around in circles with her grin still plastered on her face. "I'm not telling."

"Well, you have been away from each other for five years. It's natural not to know about each other." He paused, frowning lightly as he brought a hand to his chin and thought of himself and the relationships he had. "Wait…my mom and I aren't like that." He chuckled. "Every time I go back to Bale, she welcomes me with the same smile."

Dart and Shana stared blankly at Lavitz as he rambled.

It took Lavitz a minute, but he finally noticed the looks they were giving him, looking just as blankly back at them. "Wh-What?" He cried. "Did I say something wrong?"

Dart shrugged, shaking his head in the negative. "Let's get going. Your mother is waiting for you in Bale right?"

Lavitz nodded firmly, thinking about how happy she would be to see him and growing equally happy over the prospect. "Yeah!"

Lavitz brought them back to the main path, leading them to their left instead of the other three paths that could have been taken.

It took another few hours of twists and turns for them to feel like they got anywhere at all, and even then they only thought that because the scenery changed again. Otherwise they'd have felt like they were going in circles.

The rocks beneath their feet became slightly concave, water filling in the space that would have been empty. But this only lasted for about twenty feet until they reached the top of the curved path, stepping back onto normal ground as the water which filled the path below continued to trickle down beneath their feet from higher up.

"It's not that way." Lavitz informed them. "It's over here." He motioned them to turn completely around and head across a curved path of stepping stones which were much larger than the ones previously and thankfully had no water surrounding them.

The stepping stones lead to a tight corridor that made all three of them feel claustrophobic despite the fact none of them were exactly afraid of such a thing. This went on for a good hour too.

"This is the worst cave ever." Dart muttered.

Lavitz sighed. "I know. But it's the only way through." He paused a moment, gathering his breath. "And besides, we're basically there."

Shana and Dart piped up in unison. "Really?"

Lavitz nodded. "Yep. Probably less than an hour at this point." He said with confidence. That is…if there wasn't another hitch.

Soon the path opened up, a brightness shining from the opening at the far end. "The exit!" Dart cried, pumping his fist. "Finally." He started to run, stopping to look back at Shana. "Come on Shana."

Shana nodded at him, hopping over to his side to run with him.

Lavitz, after all the effort it took to remember the way perfectly, didn't feel much like running. Instead he lagged behind as usual, walking at a peaceful pace. "Would you guys wait up?" He called after he was sure they weren't about to stop.

Dart went to look back at him, slowing a bit, when something other than his two friends caught his eye from afar. He glared in the direction of the exit, sticking his arm out in front of Shana. "There's something there." He growled, pulling his sword out automatically.

"What is it?" Shana whispered, bringing a hand to her mouth nervously. Could it be what had been making those noises before? She was almost positive it was.

A cry rung out from just ahead, sending a shiver down her spine s made her jump. That was it. It was the same as before.

Lavitz was quick to catch up now, having a bad feeling about this. "Could it be the much talked about guardian of the cave?" He thought out loud, his face full of unease and mouth curved into a sharp snarl as he took out his spear in defense.

"Shana! Step back!" Dart ordered, eyes full of worry as he looked to her.

Shana shook her head fervently. "No, don't worry about me!" She insisted, pulling out her. "I can help!"

Dart nodded faintly despite his wishes, knowing that he had to give her some room to do things he otherwise wouldn't have allowed when they last saw each other.

"It's coming!" Lavitz cried in alarm.

It slithered along the floor like a snake, only it was far larger in all aspects. It was fifty feet long, four feet wide, fangs protruding from its mouth a good two feet, and its body was coated in a thick brown skin hard as a rock.

Dart swirled about, sword lifted up as the beast rose high off the ground and lunged at them.

The three leapt back as far as they could within a seconds notice.

The snake, Urobolus, took in a mouthful of rock, letting out a high pitched screech as it rose again.

Dart charged at it as it wailed.

The beast felt the pounding of the earth and immediately picked up on Dart's closing distance, diving at him.

Dart dropped into a slide as the monster dove, narrowly avoiding the teeth before he jumped back into a run and slashed the snake across its lower body.

Urobolus hissed at the scratch, flinging his tail around to smack Dart back across the room.

"Dart!" Shana cried as he skidded across the floor, lifting her bow and arrow up and shooting for the creatures head.

Urobolus felt the wind behind her arrow and easily moved to the side.

As Shana fired away, Lavitz made his move and stabbed his spear into the beast's body.

It stuck fast.

Urobolus howled at the prick even though it barely penetrated the surface, twisting its upper body about so that he would have been staring right at Lavitz had he had eyes.

Lavitz glowered at the beast, pulling hard to remove his weapon and flee.

Urobolus screeched angrily, mouth opening to the full extent to reveal his whole set of fifty two teeth.

Lavitz frantically pulled at his weapon, a flustered sigh passing his lips as he knew he was quickly running out of time.

"Lavitz! Move!" Shana yelled desperately to him, shooting another arrow at the snake's upper body.

Urobolus didn't care to dodge this one, growling at it as it struck but mostly ignoring it in favor of the one he still sensed before him.

And Urobolus snapped forward.

"Lavitz!" Shana shrieked.

Lavitz had nowhere to move, opting to shield himself with his arm as a last resort, eyes shut tight, and teeth gritted in anticipation of the pain. But the pain never came.

Lavitz slowly opened his eyes to reveal what had happened.

Dart stood no more than a foot in front of him, sword rattling as he held it hard against the snakes fangs. "Lavitz!" He barked savagely, looking back at his frozen friend. "Get out of here!" Dart felt himself being pushed back as he let his focus slip for even a fraction of a second.

Lavitz didn't respond to Dart, wrenching his spear from the serpent with an ease that always seemed to come after you had your ass handed to you and sprinted off.

As soon as Dart was sure Lavitz was out of the way he used all his might to throw the head of the serpent back a bit so he had a split seconds chance to jump out of the way.

Urobolus instinctively lashed forward where Dart had been a moment before, sinking his teeth into his own flesh unintentionally.

Dart stared a minute, regaining his breath before he ran back to a safer distance.

Urobolus tore at his own flesh to free himself, tortured screams echoing through the cave as he reared up to his full height, thrashing about in agony.

The three reconvened, carefully watching the creature as it jerked about in the air.

Urobolus seemed to be having battle with itself for a while before it suddenly went still, leaning forward slowly as it spewed a toxic gas from its mouth and pores.

"Ah!" Dart grunted, shoving his lower face in the crook of his arm. "Guys! Be careful! It's poison!"

The three scattered near instantly to escape the range of the gas, blind to the point behind the less than deadly attack.

Urobolus used the thick smog as a shield to lurk behind before he found a new place to attack from, high above the ground.

The gas cleared soon after, leaving them all to stare at a now empty floor. "What?" Dart muttered in confusion, grip on his sword tightening.

There was a sharp inhale of air that echoed around the room and then a glob of green came shooting from the sky.

Dart caught sight of it just in time to jump back out of the way, the acid like substance leaving a chunk of the ground missing as it dissipated.

"No way!" Lavitz cried from across the room.

Dart growled lightly, knowing he was incapable of doing anything in this moment. Only one person was. "Shana!" He barked.

Shana squealed as she nimbly dodged another of the serpent's green sludge blasts.

"You're the only one that can hit it!" Dart went on without her response. "Knock that pest out of the sky!"

Shana sucked in a soft breath at having Dart tell her she was their only hope, quickly going back into combat mode. "Alright!" She couldn't see a lick through the mixture of natural mist and the snake's own gas fog, so she aimed straight up.

There was silence as they all held their breath, and then came the terror inducing scream.

The arrow struck Urobolus dead center of his head, his one weak spot.

As a natural defense Urobolus's body kicked into overdrive. He spewed limitless gas and spit out balls of sludge so fast it might as well have been raining them.

"Get out of the way!" Dart bellowed, ducking and rolling over under the same arch as Lavitz hide beneath.

"Where's Shana?" Lavitz worried.

Shana was off on the opposite side of the room, looking over the rim of the rock she crouched behind as she balanced her arrow on the top. She was trying for another shot, one that might knock the serpent off its pedestal.

But every time she went to pull the arrow back and shoot, a sludge ball would crash down inches from her, making her yelp and yank back behind her rock.

Urobolus screamed through all his spiting, this time using it as an attack of its own. The cry was earsplitting, causing the ground itself to quake.

All three of them instinctively smashed their hands over their ears, head pounding and teeth grit hard.

"I-I have to do it…" Shana stammered, forcing herself to reach for her bow and draw an arrow out. "F-For **Dart**!" She yelled, letting the arrow fly on wings of burning passion.

Urobolus was immediately quieted.

The arrow flew straight into his open mouth, lodging itself into the back of his throat which silenced his shrieks.

Urobolus gagged, trying to force the arrow back up. But it only shoved the arrow further back. This angered Urobolus and he started thrashing about wildly, smashing into the cave walls and his own support pillar in his blind fury.

Pieces of rumble came crashing down on them, Shana scrambling to find a safer place while the other two desperately searched for her by hopping arches.

"Shana!" Dart bellowed, frantic.

The shriek of Urobolus was all that answered.

"Shana!" Lavitz called.

Shana ran for their voices, which never seemed to come from the same direction, breathing ragged and fear elevated. "D-Dart!" She cried, yelping as she tripped over a piece of rubble and skid across the rough floor of the cave.

For the final time Urobolus slammed into the main pillar, causing it to snap in half and send him spiraling through the air to pile drive the floor with an earth shattering bang.

Shana felt herself vibrate violently as she lay sprawled out on the floor, a high pitched scream escaping her as one last rock hit just inches from her.

Dart sprinted over to the mound of rubble the serpent was pulling itself out of, stabbing his blade deep into the beast's head to deal a final blow.

Urobolus let loose an agonizing screech; the remainders of his gas puffing out as he shot up as high as he could to flail about aimlessly and at least knock this murderer off before finally falling back down with a thud, heart giving its final beats.

Dart landed with a thud, rubbing his head gently as he stood to run over to Shana. "Shana!" He cried, helping her up to her feet as he reached her. "Are you all right?"

Shana nodded faintly, still a little stunned from all of this.

Lavitz found them shortly after. "So the thing's dead." He snorted, lowering his weapon to his side as he continued to glare at the creature's still body.

"Yeah, we did it!" Dart said triumphantly, sheathing his sword.

Lavitz nodded. "Now, let's get on our way to Indels Castle." He started walking the instant the words were out of his mouth.

Dart looked back at his sister. "Shana." It was all he needed to say for her to get the message and he too started off.

Shana followed slowly after them, pausing a few paces ahead. She looked back at the serpent with a sense of unease, a hand clenched at chest. But there was nothing to worry about. So she turned away from the lifeless creature again, running to catch up with the guys.

Then it moved. The tongue hanging out of Urobolus's mouth danced on the ground and he sprung back to life, hissing vehemently as he stood tall.

Shana whirled around out of instinct, the sight of the serpent freezing her.

Urobolus screamed an ungodly scream, the cry of a hunter before the kill, and lunged at her.

Shana cried out, unable to react quick enough to do more than put her hands up in front of her face.

"SHANA!" Dart yelled at the top of his lungs, sprinting as hard as he could back to her.

But there was nothing anyone could do.

Suddenly a brilliant blue light came out of nowhere, the source seeming to be Shana as it shone all around her. The light intensified to a blinding level until the power brimming in it could no longer be contained. And then it blasted toward the serpent.

Urobolus cried out in pain, the light cutting through his body like a knife to butter before literally exploding his sections into nothingness.

Dart and Lavitz stood with mouths agape and eyes open wide as they watched this inexplicable occurrence happen before their very eyes.

But it was easily Shana who was the most stunned and confused of them. "Wh-What was…?" she trailed off, arms wrapped around herself in self-comfort as the blinding light slowly faded.

As Dart snapped out of it and started toward her again she felt her knees go weak and she sank to the ground, body trembling.

Dart dropped down to her level, eyes wide with concern and residual shock. "What on earth happened?" Dart touched her shoulder gently as an afterthought.

"I-I don't know." Shana muttered in a far off tone as she stared blankly ahead.

Dart grew silent, hand sliding off of Shana. He didn't know what to say now. What was there to say? What had just happened had been unreal in all senses of the word. It wasn't normal. And Shana definitely didn't need to hear that right now.

Shana's lip began to quiver slightly as her mind slowly came out of its shocked state and she crumpled. Tears stung at her eyes and she threw herself at Dart, sobbing heavily into his shoulder.

Dart wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight like he remembered doing so often when they were young. And in a strange way it made him happy.

Lavitz looked sadly at them, hating how Shana was crying so strongly over something that shouldn't have been an issue since it was beyond the realm of possibility. Or it was supposed to be.

"It's alright." Dart cooed, stroking her hair.

Shana whined lightly into his armor, nuzzling his neck lightly. "I know." Really she only believed this because this freaky event had enabled her to be so close to Dart. If not for that it would truly be awful.

Dart sighed softly, continuing to hold Shana as he stood them up. He then looked to Lavitz.

Lavitz frowned deeply as he spoke, "At least we are safe." He tried to boost spirits by saying positive words.

Shana gently pulled away from Dart, wiping at her eyes as she nodded faintly. "Mmhm…" She half smiled.

When Lavitz saw her smile he knew it was ok to move past her event. "We should get out of here." He smiled weakly back at Shana. "It'll be fine when we get to Bale."

Shana nodded at this. "...I think..." She mumbled, moving forward to leave this place.

The two men fell into stride with her immediately after, not asking her to slow or speed up or wait or anything because they knew better. They wanted her to be calm.

Dart wanted it so badly that he moved close to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they made their way to the last arch of the cave. "It'll be alright." He whispered in her ear.

Shana smiled gently as his breath tickled her ear before leaning her head against his shoulder in content. "Mmhm…"

Lavitz was the third wheel. He followed at Shana's side just like Dart, but he had no real place with the two in this moment. It perturbed him slightly, this uselessness, but he soon realized he needn't worry when Shana reached out for him as well.

Shana latched onto his hand with her own, holding tight so as not to lose him and make him feel like he was just as important and necessary now as Dart was to her. And he was. Because, after all, they were her boys. She just wasn't sure he knew this.

Lavitz smiled. He loved the feeling of importance. He'd missed this outside of battle and he hoped to never lose the feeling again.

And as everyone held a sense of purpose they left the cave behind, ready to see the place that Lavitz called home.

**Hope anyone who read this liked it. This story is pretty important to me, even if it's just a novelization of a game.**


	5. City at War

**I decided I'd upload a little more. Some people seem to want to see it. :)**

As they walked into the city, Dart and Shana couldn't believe their eyes. They had never seen such a big bustling city, the only place they ever knew being the tiny town of Seles. And quite honestly it was much more beautiful than Seles ever was.

The streets were paved of varying blends of white and yellow, yellow leaved trees scattered sparsely in between the multitude of homes set around, the colors matching wonderfully to create harmony for the eyes.

The majority of houses were made of white rocks that were smoothed out, a brownish tint covering most due to being exposed to the elements for so long, the roofs were created of brownish yellow bricks, built to slope and allow rainwater to fall off. Also, depending on how many floors the house had, there could be an extra window at a higher level.

There was a rickety railing set around a drop down toward the river that ran beneath the main city, and a large fountain of stone rose up above the railing at the center of the empty square space. There in the middle of the fountain sat a carefully sculpted person atop a rectangular sitting stone, water pouring from its outspread hands as well as its mouth.

Not as noticeable was the small break in the railing that had a short stairway leading down beneath the city where a small boat was docked for those who wanted to ride around in the current for a spell. It was all very quaint.

That's when Dart noticed the black bricked home setting directly to their left. It stood out considerably compared to all the other homes. "Who lives there?" Dart motioned to the building.

Lavitz felt a smile spread across his lips as he thought of it. "No one too important, just a painter girl." He shrugged lightly.

"She sure has an odd house." Dart chuckled.

Lavitz nodded. "She's different, that's for sure."

A short woman came bursting from the entrance of the house, smacking right into Lavitz. "H-Hey!" She cried, face red, before she looked up and saw who it was. "Oh my God!" She squealed in disbelief.

Lavitz was mostly unaffected by the impact with all the armor he had on and how large he was compared to her, but he still found himself rubbing his head gently as he looked down at the woman.

"It's Sir Lavitz!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement. "Oh, Sir Lavitz, please come in!" She half begged, pulling at his arm with all her strength.

Lavitz looked back at Dart and Shana to see what they thought about this, half hoping they'd save him from this by reminding him how important it was to report to the King. However the other half of himself thought it would be fun to slack off for a minute.

Dart and Shana shrugged simultaneously. It didn't matter. A few minutes wouldn't kill any of them.

With a soft sigh Lavitz allowed her to take him back into her house which he'd only seen the inside of a couple of other times.

It was cluttered, as always, stands of unfinished works lining all walls, canisters of paints in groups on the floor depending on the contents, and barrels of painting tools or other such nonsense scattered in what little space was left. All this left even less leg room, but Lavitz didn't complain.

"You have a nice home, as always." Lavitz complimented.

"Oh, stop it!" the woman blushed a crimson red in embarrassment. "I know you're only saying that. This place has seen so much better days." She sighed, looking about herself at the mess that was her home.

Her blatant nature even to something so precious made him chuckle. "You shouldn't be so harsh on this place. If it could talk I'm sure it wouldn't appreciate it no matter how true it may be."

Dart snorted from behind, having just entered with Shana. "You sure can come up with some ridiculous stuff sometimes, can't you?" he teased.

Lavitz shook his head at Dart. "It's called making conversation." He wagged his finger. "I'm guessing you didn't learn this." He teased right back.

Shana giggled at the two and how they 'fought' with each other like they did. She had never seen two men so unrelated play as such. Women, sure, all the time, but men didn't usually take to verbal play.

"Who are you?" the painter asked, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes at the two who had followed Lavitz in without permission from her.

Lavitz motioned toward them. "They're my friends." He said happily. "He's Dart, and this is Shana." He pointed to each as he said their names.

Dart nodded when it came to him and Shana waved shyly.

"Friends…" the painter muttered. "So I suppose they're an item then." She half asked half stated as if it were fact.

Dart's face turned a deep red almost instantly at the accusation. "W-What!" He shrieked, sticking his hands up in front of him as a defense. "Y-You got it all wrong!" He tried to reason.

Shana had the complete opposite response. She clasped her hands on her chest, sighing contentedly as a dreamy look came to her eyes.

The painter laughed at this. "It doesn't look like I have it wrong at all."

"We aren't an item, **ok**?" he growled desperately. "Lavitz, help me out here!" He pleaded.

Lavitz shrugged. "Don't look at me, dude. I don't like getting mixed up in love affairs." He chuckled at himself. "It's my one weakness."

Dart scowled at him. "Some friend you are." He grumbled under his breath.

"Alright, alright." The painter laughed. "I'll leave you alone." She shook her head at his denial as she looked back to Lavitz. "But only because I have something better to give my attention."

Lavitz raised a brow at her. "Oh? What do you want me to do now?"

"Come on, you know already!" she tried to conceal her ever growing excitement. "Please let me draw your portrait again!" She squealed, practically jumping out of her skin in anticipation.

Lavitz chortled at how much energy this woman possessed in her age, looking to Dart again for permission of the sorts.

Dart, already over the 'betrayal' of Lavitz a moment ago, smiled. "Whatever you want man."

Shana agreed, nodding fervently. "I've never seen someone paint before." A pause. "It'll be fun."

Lavitz shrugged at the woman, giving her the ability to do whatever she wanted with him now.

The painter lost it then. "YES!" She scurried about in a hurry, gathering everything she needed for the perfect picture of Lavitz. "Alright!" she cried after a minute, everything gathered at her feet. "Now…pose for me." She ordered.

Lavitz wordlessly complied, placing his hands on his hips like he so liked to do.

The painter looked him over careful, making sure she would get the details right from the very start. "Ok…" She breathed, making her first strokes. "Now don't move." She warned, her energy draining as she was forced to be careful in her painting.

Lavitz didn't move a muscle through it all. He stood still as stone despite the fact it took her a good thirty minutes of looking back and forth and changing tools to finish. But that was more than anyone could say for Dart.

All throughout the process he was moving. First he simply crossed his arms over his chest, then he began tapping his foot in impatience, and next he would look aimlessly about as if something new would pop out to him now that there was nothing to do.

"Yes. Here you go." She grinned from ear to ear, grabbing the paper off the stand and presented it to them all.

Dart stepped forward, eager to see what this woman was able to turn out in this amount of time. "Hmm…" He murmured, crossing his arms once more. "Isn't it a little too handsome?"

She swirled around to face him, saying adamantly as she jumped in the air, "No! I don't think so!" She shook her head fervently.

Lavitz snorted at them, looking at Dart and then looking back to the painter. "Thank you, I'll treasure this." He nodded in approval.

"Okay!" she cried with an awestruck glimmer in her eyes, sighing contentedly.

"Now we should go to King Albert." Lavitz reminded Dart.

Dart nodded. "I haven't forgotten." He was quick to head for the door, not even stopping to tell Shana to follow. He wanted out of that house.

So Lavitz did it for him. "You coming Shana?" he looked at her with a questioning expression, seeing that she was immersed in all the drawings that surrounded her.

Shana perked at the sound of his voice. "Oh! Yes!" She chirped, twirling about and prancing over to Lavitz's side before they both exited next to one another.

From the woman's house the trio headed across the bridge which went farther left, into the heart of the city. Here the buildings were larger, the richer resident area, and they were made of finer stone that didn't show as much wear from being exposed to years of elements as the outer area of town. Although just like the previous area a railing circled the space to prevent falling from the high place into the river. And just beyond the bridge's end there was a wishing well of the sorts. But unlike the fountain at the front, it was not fed by the river; its water came from the occasional rainfall which was just enough to fill the four inch high bowl.

But they knew they didn't have time for any real sightseeing. They had to get to King Albert so Lavitz could report all there was to be told.

"It really is beautiful." Shana breathed, truly taken by the foreign design of this city. "I almost wish it were my home." But she would never give up her time in Seles with Dart, not for anything.

Lavitz chuckled. "It's ok I guess." He shrugged his shoulders.

Dart snorted at his friend's indifference. "Are you blind or what? This place is amazing!"

Lavitz grinned. "I suppose some of the wonder is taken away when you've lived here all your life." He never had thought about this until now, but it was probably true. "You get used to it." That's all it was.

Shana nodded faintly. "You're probably right." She smiled with a slight ache in her heart. "Even though Seles was never much a lot of passerby's would always say they wished where they lived was so beautiful." She giggled lightly at the memory. "But to me it was normal, not special like they made it out to be."

Dart watched Shana carefully as she spoke, deeply intrigued by how serious she was being. It wasn't that she was completely carefree or a loose cannon, it was just that he remembered her being that silly little thirteen year old kid when he left. And he kind of expected it to be the same.

"Here we are." Lavitz stated the obvious, pointing out toward an enormous castle that reached at least a hundred feet into the air with three levels not counting the basement. It was built of an even finer stone than the houses at the heart of the city, the most noticeable difference being that the roofs were more pointed at the top and rounded starting at the middle. Not only that but they were made of a strong brick unlike any in the city.

It had two entrances set on either side of the long twenty foot stairs which led into the training area, taking up three fourths of the large room, as well as the stables that held the horses, taking up the last fourth of the room in the far left corner. The tiled floor was blue and there were imitations of real people to be practiced on for sword fighting. As an extra touch there were ladders and secret passages set around the room out of the way of those who trained.

The first level was just as huge as the basement training area with six rooms, only four reachable at this point, the others accessible only through the basement. But none of the details of those rooms really sunk in for Dart and Shana. All they noticed was the main path was white tiled, a green stretch of a slick mat leading from the entrance all the way up the second flight of stairs to the second floor.

The second floor was naturally of equal size as the two before it with just as many rooms, all of these reachable from their point. The floor they stood on was uncovered, white smooth stones making up the floor and magnificent, intricate designs of mythical creatures carved into all the walls surrounding them.

"It just keeps getting better." Shana cooed, hands clasped at her chest. "I've never been in such a place." She sighed.

Dart nodded. "It's…out of this world." Even he couldn't help but stare interestedly at the walls, trying to make out every tiny detail put into the creatures on the wall. The only one he could make out was a dragon, the others being completely foreign to him.

"You like the carvings, huh?" Lavitz chortled. "They are the best part of this place aside from its size." He too took in the details despite the fact he'd seen them a million times before. "It's one of the things that never get old for me."

"But I've never even seen most of these." Dart frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hmm…" he murmured. "It's no surprise. Most of these beings disappeared long ago. Like this one." He pointed to an image of what appeared to be a person with wings.

"Oh…" Shana was intrigued, moving closer. "What is it?"

"It's the fabled Dragoon." He said simply, smiling brightly.

"It sure sounds and looks like it was quite a force." Dart commented, touching the engraving lightly with a hand.

Lavitz nodded. "It's said that they fought to free our world."

"Free our world?" Dart cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Never mind!" Lavitz insisted, waving his hands in small circles in front of him to signify this conversation needed to end. "We have to report to King Albert first, and then we can talk more of it."

"Right." Dart nodded, having nearly forgotten their purpose.

The three went on up the spiraling staircase that branched off in to directions around the stairs they just came up. But it mattered not which they chose. Both led up to the same upward reaching stairs that ended in the throne room.

This room's floor was made of the same material as the outer part, a red mat set below the raised platform where the king's throne sat. There were two small sets of stairs on opposite sides leading to the said throne which also adorned a red mat beneath it, a thick railing of white and yellow blend outlining the short walk up the stairs and edge of the elevated area. Behind the throne, hanging on the wall, was a red flag with an eagle on it, the symbol of Basil.

The walls had large gold outlines of stars on each open space and two pillars up at the level of the throne had strange gold symbols on them as well. To Dart they almost looked like the Dragoons Lavitz had spoken of moments before, only these were surely women. And that one…Dart squinted at it. It looked so familiar.

Lavitz signaled them all to kneel as they reached the end of the mat. "I am the head of the First Knighthood, Lavitz Slambert." He placed his hand on his knee as he bowed his head; wanting to be extra sure he was as reverent as possible. "I am back from the field."

King Albert was a man with blond hair falling ten inches or so below his shoulders that he tied back with a band, his skin was fair, and he had hazel eyes. He had only a select few pieces of silver armor with gold embroidery covering his body, one being a chest plate that reached over his shoulders and up around the lower front of his neck and the other being a waist plate. The rest was regular clothing, most of which was green and brown.

He wore a yellow green shirt underneath a slightly darker long sleeved vest that reached down a few inches below the waist, the two sides connected by thin brown strings pulled taut. On his hands were short, dark brown gloves that matched the color of the boots on his feet which reached up barely below his knees. And as a finisher he had a long green cape tied about him which hung just above the ground.

King Albert's face lifted instantly and he rushed over to the edge of the platform, looking eagerly over the railing. "Oh, Lavitz!" he cried, smiling brightly. "I was feeling uneasy because I had heard you were missing!" He sighed in relief. "Oh, please, make yourself comfortable, everyone!" he insisted.

Lavitz smiled back at the king, rising to his feet along with his friends to look upon the king's happy face. "Your Majesty, it's more than I deserve." He said in modesty, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

One of the two men on both sides of the throne, Minister Noish, stepped forward, laughing. "It was true! His Majesty was so dismayed that he couldn't see to his affairs of state."

Albert turned toward Noish with an expression that said, 'Don't do that.' "Oh Noish, please don't tease me. Lavitz is a friend from my childhood as well as a master of martial arts." He turned back to Lavitz after scolding Noish sufficiently. "Anyway, where have you been?" he was quite curious.

Lavitz moved forward a step, taking in a deep breath before starting. "After my First Knighthood was wiped out, I was captured by Sandora and held against my will in Hellena Prison…"

Albert's face grew grim and slightly paler. "W-What…in Hellena…"

Lavitz quickly continued upon seeing how distressed this was making Albert. He hated it when he was that way, especially when it was his fault. "**However**, thanks to the act of this young man," he motioned to Dart, "I managed to break out." A pause. "Now, let me introduce these people to you." He pointed to Dart, "Dart," And then to Shana. "Shana. They are from Seles."

Albert smiled warmly at Lavitz's friends. "I thank you for saving Lavitz. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart." He touched a hand to his heart to prove it. "In gratitude for this, tell me if you need anything." He didn't care what he had to give to repay them. Lavitz was worth so much to him.

Dart looked to Shana without her noticing, nodding faintly to himself before looking back to Albert. "I have a favor to ask." He decided.

King Albert nodded. "Yes?"

"Is it possible to take care of Shana in this castle?" he asked with insurmountable hope.

Shana felt as she had been hit by something straight in her stomach as these words reached her. "W-What?" she spit out, staring at Dart in disbelief.

Dart refused to look at Shana in that moment, knowing that his affection for her would surely be his undoing upon seeing her reaction. "It seems Imperial Sandora attacked Seles to take Shana away. So, they could go after Shana anytime…and when I think of it…" He trailed of, a shiver running up his spine.

Shana's lip quivered as she turned to face Dart's profile. "Is that the reason you brought me here?" she demanded in a soft whine of sad understanding, eyes displaying the immense hurt both her and her heart felt in the moment.

Dart foolishly looked to Shana out of the corner of his eye, frowning deeply as he saw her heartbroken expression. "Shana…" He muttered, lowering his head and shaking it sadly at her. She just didn't get it. He wasn't doing this to hurt her; he was simply trying to protect her. Did she not get that without her he would have little reason to carry on?

Shana lowered her head as well. "I can walk next to Dart. I have been working towards that." She muttered, looking back up with more confidence a minute after. "There is nothing we can do about the time we were apart, but I want to be with you forever!" Shana smiled lovingly at Dart as she finished with vigor.

Albert shook his head. "Unfortunately, you can not leave her here." He saw Dart was an inch from asking why, and answered before he had the chance to open his mouth. "Imperial Sandora obtained the force called the dragon, and went on the offensive. We are holding the battle line in Hoax, but if the dragon can fly at low altitudes and directly attack the castle, we can not defend it even with the high ramparts." He sighed softly, hating to think of the truth that no one ever spoke aloud. "There is no place safe in Serdio now."

Dart grimaced, knowing this all too well by the fate his home had endured.

Shana and Lavitz also felt a similar ache as the king admitted what few were willing to.

"Besides, you do know how she feels about you." Albert said with a soft chuckle. "Don't you?" His brow furrowed as he grew uncertain of his assumption.

Dart turned to Shana, a pained smile passing his lips. "Shana, it may be even more dangerous from now on." He warned, wishing she would see all the hints he threw that he didn't want her coming for her own safety.

Shana smiled widely as she figured Dart was getting used to the idea of her tagging along. "I don't mind!" she insisted, nodding fervently. "As long as I can be with you, Dart, I'm happy."

He nodded to her, turning back to Albert before shrugging lightly. "Well, I take back the request. But...one more thing."

"Of course."

"I would like to ask a question to Minister Noish." He gazed over at the man by Albert's side.

Minister Noish grinned with anticipation. "Ask me anything, son. My head is filled with all the legends and history of the Continent of Endiness."

Dart's expression instantly grew darker and his shoulders tensed some as he prepared to speak of what he detested most in life. "I was on a journey to pursue the Black Monster."

Noish sucked in a breath. "The Black...Monster..." He whispered tentatively.

Dart nodded sternly, mouth a snarl. "The monster that attacked Neet eighteen years ago." Dart paused, hating to admit he knew absolutely nothing about him after having chased him for so long. "The only thing I know is that he deprived me of my parents, and my hometown."

Noish stroked his chin. "Hmm! You were a victim of the devil!"

"I want to hear everything!" Dart demanded as an intense fire burnt within him. "Please tell me about it!"

"Hmm…there is hardly any information left. Everything that was related to him was reduced to ashes." He admitted, scratching his head as he thought harder. "The only thing I know is: the Black Monster is called the devil that disobeyed the great existence, and it is also known for devouring the god."

Dart's face scrunched up in confusion as he tried to understand this, frown on his lips. "Devouring the 'god'?" he repeated.

"Yes." He nodded. "And surprisingly, it shows up in history beginning eleven thousand years ago."

Albert frowned thoughtfully at this, looking to Noish. "Eleven thousand years ago is the time the Dragon Campaign ended." He stated absently.

Noish nodded fervently; excited by the fact the king knew this too. "You're exactly right, Your Majesty." He smirked then, thinking of something better. "Instead, I will tell you the story of the Dragon Campaign."

"As if they were gods, Winglies ruled over all living creatures, and used them as slaves. The enslaved suffered a terrible domination and injustice. Their anger turned to a flame of fury; then, a gust of wind blew throughout the lands, spreading the flame to a blazing fire. The wind was Emperor Diaz. Seven incarnations of dragons served the emperor. Their bravery inspired people to take up arms. Thus began the Dragon Campaign."

Noish drew in a deep breath before continuing. "It was a harsh war. Both people and Winglies suffered countless injuries and fatalities. After a long period of suffering, it was the humans who acquired the future. The age of humans had begun."

Dart had watched Noish intently as he explained it all as well as acted it out with his hands at times. He'd never heard of such a tale and found it all to be quite interesting. "The Black Monster appeared after the Dragon Campaign." He said, getting a feel of the words on his lips.

Before anything else could be said another man entered the throne room.

Lavitz turned about, nodding at the man before stepping to the side for him to see the king as he talked.

"Excuse me sir!" he apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's time for the war meeting!"

"I see." He nodded in acknowledgement. "Tell them we will come soon."

The man nodded back to him before leaving them.

Albert looked to Dart and then Shana, saying their names in the proper order. "Dart, Shana?" he smiled wanly. "This war will be a particularly harsh one for those who no longer have a home to return to." A pause. "The castle is very quiet now. It is the best place to think about your future." He aimed this last sentence at Shana in particular.

"But…this is our first time in a castle." She said shyly, hands intertwined down at her waist.

Albert smiled warmly at her. "Well, there is a place with a great view next to this room. Go enjoy yourself." He motioned to his left.

"The view from the castle…" she said in awe, bringing her clasped hands up to her heart. "I see!" she smiled brightly, eyes gleaming. "Please excuse me!" she asked, bowing, before scurrying off to her right out of the room to the balcony.

Dart watched her go, rubbing his head in embarrassment. "She's so hasty." He apologized for her, looking to the king a final time. "Please excuse me too." He bowed slightly, leaving Lavitz, the king, and all the men to discuss what needed to be discussed to follow Shana out to the balcony.

Shana was standing out at the edge, hands on the stone encasing as she stared peacefully out over the land. It had been far too long since she'd felt so happy to be on her own.

Dart walked up to her slowly, crossing his arms over the top of the encasing so he could rest his head down on them. "From here, we can see all of Basil." He said with a smile. "Might we even be able to see Seles?" He directed at Shana.

Shana snorted at Dart and how dense he managed to be sometimes, shaking her head at him. Yet it was rather endearing. "Seles is over the mountain." She smiled too. "Besides, we can not see it anyway because we are so far." She sighed in melancholy. "I hope everybody is safe." She moved her elbow on the encasing, resting her chin in her hand.

Dart patted her back. "I'm sure they are okay."

For what seemed like only a moment they stood side by side with one another, relishing in each other's presence. This had been impossible since they met up with Lavitz. So it was nice, even though Shana was sad about how Dart felt of her, but she was still able to hope that one day Dart would see her in a different light. At least they were with each other. That counted for something.

Lavitz came thirty minutes later, smiling, with news. "They are safe, the people in Seles."

Dart and Shana turned about, smiling warmly at Lavitz in general as well as the news he brought. "Really?"

He nodded in confidence. "Yes, they are. According to the brief by my aide, most of the people in the village are safe." It felt good to make his friends happy.

Dart sighed heavily. "I am relieved to hear that." He frowned lightly nonetheless. "But, it will take time to rebuild the village." He didn't mean to sound like a downer, but he had to think realistically. If he didn't he'd only have more of a letdown to face in the long run.

Naturally Shana was not going to acknowledge the bad as Dart had. She was all about the positive. "Still, good... I can meet everybody again." She swayed slightly as she sang her favorite tune in her head. It always made her even happier.

Dart looked to her, nodding in agreement. He wished he could be so positive.

Lavitz frowned lightly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "But, we have bad news." He admitted. "Nothing to do with Seles!" he cried out. "Sandora is now readying itself to attack us. They are planning to use the dragon for the offensive on Hoax."

An anger flared up inside of Dart, eyes wide with fear, hands clenched. "A dragon!" he spat in disbelief. "If they release that monster in the battle, it will be total genocide!" his arms shook he was so angry.

Lavitz wordlessly guided Dart back to an uncertain serenity, continuing as well as stepping forward some. "Our role, as the Knighthood, is to stop it." He pumped his fist, face serious as ever. "I am heading to Hoax now." He made sure they knew this in case they expected him to remain here by their sides forever. "Maintaining the battle line will determine the future of Basil." He sounded grim.

Dart grimaced to match Lavitz's look, bowing his head and shaking it slowly back and forth to show how sad this made him. "I have lived only for myself." He walked past them, stopping at the exit of the balcony and shook his head again. "I believed it was something I had to complete by myself," he turned back to face the two. "…even if I had to leave Shana and the people of the village behind."

Lavitz crossed his arms, a hand on his chin as he bowed his head in solemn agreement.

Shana too had her head lowered slightly in sad agreement.

"But, when I came back, look at this." He jerked his hands apart to display both his fury and the widespread nature of the damage. "I almost lost my hometown again!" he gazed heatedly at Lavitz. "Lavitz. I am going to Hoax with you! I don't want to see anymore senseless bloodshed!"

"What about the Black Monster?" He was curious as to how determined Dart was to stick with his engagement of helping in this task.

Dart shook his head in the negative with ferocity. "We have to end the war first! It's the most important thing now!"

Shana laughed softly, hand resting just beneath her mouth. "Once Dart makes up his mind, he never changes it." She lifted her head back up then, a new light in her eyes. "Of course, I am going too! I can not stand the war either and I can fight too!" she threw a hand in the air from excitement. It had been so long since she'd really been on anything worthy of being called an adventure.

Lavitz looked from one to the other repeatedly before finally stopping on Dart. "You guys…" he muttered contentedly. These people…they were so self-sacrificing. They were one in a million, and they happened to have grown up with one another. Lavitz was so glad to have met them.

Dart did a fist pump. "Everything is determined! And now we have to prepare." He directed at Shana, staring warmly at her.

Shana smiled back at him, loving the way his eyes delved deep into her very soul.

"Th-then, let's go to Bale now!" He cried excitedly. "There are item shops, weapon shops, and my home! Please meet my mother! She will be happy! She hasn't had a guest for a while!" He was beginning to ramble at this point, but he barely noticed. He was just so happy.

The two nodded at Lavitz, accepting the proposal. After all, it would be interesting to see where their friend lived as well as get a small dose of how he lived with his mother.

**How was it? I hope you enjoyed it. Please review! :D**


	6. The Slambert Home

**I wasn't really thinking about it, but on here it only lets you put one punctuation mark after a sentence. So if it is a question and there's an exclamation point and not a question mark, it's most likely because there was supposed to be both and I almost always put an exclamation point first. Yeah...just so you know. :)**

They wandered back into the throne room and down the flights of stairs until they were back out in the light of the sun. From there they found their way back to the first section of the town, taking a path in the opposite corner back to a little nook of more homes.

For some reason Dart felt that this was the most homey section of the city. The buildings were squeezed tighter together, most were smaller, and it just had this vibe about it that made Dart smile. "This seems more like Seles…" Dart muttered absently.

Lavitz smiled. "I don't know what Seles is like, but this is the least busy part, that's for sure."

"Well, maybe I won't feel so out of place in your house after all." Dart laughed, nudging Lavitz in the side.

Lavitz didn't say anything to this, bringing them up to what was his home. It was, without a doubt, the biggest one set in the back.

"Oh!" Shana cried. "It's so big."

"Nah, it's not really." He said with a wide grin, loving to have his home praised just as much as he mother did. "It just looks it, being back here and all."

"Hmm…" Dart murmured, looking over the house intently. He wasn't sure if he liked how big this was; it was almost as if he was inadequate when compared to Lavitz now.

"Come in!" Lavitz said with eagerness, running on in the house without waiting for them. "Mom! I'm home!" He called as he burst through the door.

Lavitz's mother, an old, pudgy woman, came flying out from the kitchen. She wore a smile of unmatchable glee, eyes shining brightly with love for her only child. "Oh Lavitz! It's Lavitz!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her son in a loving embrace. "I was worried because I didn't hear from you for a long time." She sighed in a strained but happy tone.

Lavitz hugged her back, relishing in the attention he was getting from her despite his age.

However, once Dart and Shana came in Lavitz was quick to pull away, standing straight. Still, he was smiling wide as he spoke, "Sandora's resistance was tougher than I thought." He shrugged. "But don't worry. We defeated them!" he cried enthusiastically.

His mother smiled with pride. "Your late father would be proud to hear that." There was a slight twinge of sadness as she mentioned his father, her husband. She missed him still. Sometimes Lavitz was all that kept her going. He was so much like him after all.

Dart frowned deeply, brow furrowed in confusion, as he walked over to stand directly beside Lavitz. "Lavitz, what about Hellena?" he said a little too loud.

Lavitz went pale, having forgotten to tell Dart to just go with what he said. In a way he thought he didn't have to.

His mother stared blankly from Dart to Lavitz, not sure she heard right or what she was supposed to believe.

Shana sucked in a sharp breath, jumping over to Dart and taking a firm grip on his arm. "Don't mention that to her!" she said in hushed urgency.

Lavitz leaned over toward Dart as well, whispering, "Sorry, but I don't want her to be worried." He was quick to turn his attention back to his mother, smiling to add to the believability of the lie. "I don't know what he is talking about." He shrugged innocently.

His mother untensed, sighing softly. "Well, fine. I am already happy just having you come home." She said with such warmth it could have burned. "But…" she looked to Shana, "You brought a bride with you! My big baby!" she clapped her hands in unbridled enthusiasm.

"Ah!" Lavitz gasped out of pure shock, jerking back a step. "Mom! She is not!"

His mother laughed softly, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Oh, don't be shy." She waved his words off with her hand. "What's your name?" she leaned forward as she asked.

Shana blushed a deep red. "Sh-Shana…" she whispered, twiddling her two fingers together.

His mother nodded faintly, already loving this woman by her name. She knew that she would soon fall in love with her personality as well at this rate. "Shana, my son is a little awkward and stubborn, but he is very sweet natured." She reassured.

Lavitz did a face palm, "Mom!"

Dart reacted similar to Lavitz, searching for a way to remedy this. Could it be…was he…jealous? "He is not!" Dart finally spit out, looking slightly irritated by the notion.

Lavitz nodded at his mother. "He is right. She is Dart's sweetheart." He corrected her.

"Huh? H-Hey!" Dart burst out, blushing lightly. "When did I become Shana's…?"

Shana lit up instantly, hands clasped at her heart. "It's true." She nodded with boundless energy. "I…I am Dart's girlfriend." She sighed at the nice thought.

"What!" Dart could barely believe what these two were saying. They were completely ignoring him and his confusion, furthering this ridiculous plot all the while.

"Oh!" she cried in embarrassment. "Please excuse me." She asked, hands folded together to further the effect of her apology. "Take good care of Shana." She added, nodding to Dart.

Dart chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well...I-I don't know what to say." His grin widened far too much to look sincere as he leaned over to Lavitz. "What's going on?" he hissed in his ear.

Lavitz cupped a hand over his mouth to better conceal his words. "Once my mom gets an idea into her head, that's the end." He half laughed. "That's the only way we can manage her."

Dart nodded. "Ok."

They both moved back into their normal positions then, acting like nothing had happened.

His mother sighed sadly. "Lavitz, please find somebody like her so that I can hold a grandchild in my arms." Even her eyes were saddened as she looked into his. "You are not a child anymore."

Lavitz smiled in embarrassment, rubbing his head in the same manner. "Yeah, I know, I know." He admitted with little enthusiasm. He hated to think that he was getting older, too old to still have only his mother there for him. But it was true. He needed to start a family…somehow.

"And you'll stay here today honey?" his mother asked, almost pleading. She rarely could say she had her baby around for a whole day and she missed it.

Lavitz grimaced lightly. "Well…" he murmured quietly, running his foot in circles on the carpet. "…I was commanded to defend Hoax. So, I have to leave as soon as…" He hated to finish this sentence, especially since he knew what he was going to say.

"Oh, well…I understand." She shrugged in nonchalance. "But you can have at least lunch can't you?" she looked hopefully at him. "It'll be ready soon, honey." She promised.

Shana perked, lifting a hand into the air in enthusiasm. "I'll give you a hand!"

"Oh, there's no need." She waved Shana's words away, smiling warmly. "But…" she frowned slightly as she looked up, thinking. "Then again…maybe…"

"My pleasure!" Shana insisted with a firm nod.

The two then meandered on into the kitchen without another word to the men, chatting amongst themselves instead.

As the two left them Lavitz turned around to face Dart, crossing his arms over his chest as well as brought a hand up to his chin thoughtfully. "Well, what can we do till lunch?" he thought out loud. "It'll be a while till it's done too. So…what are re we gonna do?" he directed more toward Dart.

Dart shrugged. "Should we help them?" he tried to be open, not sure if Lavitz was into that stuff. Although he thought he could guess.

"Hmm…can you cook?" he asked doubtfully. Dart didn't seem the type.

"Of course!" Dart assured. "Otherwise, I couldn't travel alone for five years." He laughed at Lavitz. "Besides, I'm not too big on being helpless. You know that."

"Oh!" he said in mild shock, still not sure he believed Dart had any real experience. "And what kind of dishes do you make?" He raised a brow.

"I can grill a piece of thick meat." He said matter of factly, nodding triumphantly. "It's the best!"

Lavitz stared blankly at Dart for a moment, totally unimpressed. "That's it?" He verbalized his opinion. "Let's leave the cooking to Shana and mom." He decided.

Dart frowned, brow furrowing in slight disappointment. "You think so?" he scratched his head thoughtfully. "But Shana was always a bad cook." He tried to convince Lavitz.

Lavitz just continued to stare in disbelief at Dart. "Better than you."

Dart sighed heavily, looking about the house to see if he saw anything to do worthwhile. After a minute his face lit up. "We should practice with our swords." He whipped out his sword in a heartbeat, swinging it through the air with passion.

Lavitz's eyes grew wide as bowling balls and he was quick to jump forward, waving his arms wildly. "Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Dart stilled his sword, looking with confusion at his friend. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong!" Lavitz repeated. "Are you really gonna swing your sword in my house!"

Dart shrugged. "What's wrong with that? You have such a big house."

Lavitz scowled at him. "It's not right!" He insisted.

Dart frowned deeply in return, sheathing his sword despite the fact he really didn't want to. "Fine, I was just kidding." He tried to say, rolling his eyes as he turned away from Lavitz, scoffing. "Tut."

"I heard that!" Lavitz called him out, pointing an accusing finger at his friend. "What is that tut about!" He demanded.

Dart turned back around, shaking his head in the negative and held his hands up in innocence. "It's all in your head." He assured.

"What else do you have up your sleeve?" Lavitz prompted.

"Hmm…" Dart tapped his chin thoughtfully. "How about you show me around your house then? This is the first time I've been in such a huge place." He offered tentatively.

Lavitz shrugged. It was at least better than the other ideas he'd come up with. "There is nothing interesting, but we can at least kill some time. So walk around and I'll tell you about the rooms."

Dart pretty much knew what the room the two girls had entered was, but still he found himself walking in there. He just wanted to have a look. It was a quaint place, just the right size for two or three, but few more.

Lavitz sighed. "As you can see, it's a kitchen." He moved his hands in a circle to signify that this area was what he spoke of and not the small section farther up. "But I don't want to disturb her cooking, so let's go some other place."

Dart nodded, moving over to the smaller room just ahead on their left. It didn't seem to be used for much at all. There were simply stacks of boxes and all sorts of junk scattered about. Worst of all there was so much dust it was unreal. Dart even felt he might sneeze.

Lavitz was bored by this room, saying unenthusiastically, "It's a storage room. It seems to have more odds and ends than last time though." He noticed that there was a useless old wheel in the far corner, an overturned box in the center of the room, and a collection of bottles scattered about. He even wondered for a moment where they'd come from considering his mother didn't exactly get out much, but only for a moment. He quickly moved on. "How about we go upstairs?"

Lavitz led Dart up the two flights of red carpeted stairs back in the first room, entering the hallway of wood tiled flooring. There were three rooms, and no more.

Dart pointed at the first one straight ahead. "What about that one?"

"This is my room." He said with a smile.

Dart hadn't intended to go into the rooms up here, but hearing that this was Lavitz's made him curious. "Oh…" he murmured, walking through the open door into the tiny space. It actually looked smaller than the storage space too, even with the few things it held. There was a white bed, brown dresser, dim light on the wall, and the supporting pillar of the house.

As he looked at the latter Dart noticed something. "There is a cut in the pillar." He frowned lightly, looking to Lavitz for an answer. "Were you swinging your sword or something?"

Lavitz chuckled softly, shaking his head at Dart's quickness to jump to such a conclusion. "No, I was measuring my height." He explained. "I did it all the time." He ran his fingers over the indent, reminiscing. "It was how I compared myself with my father."

Dart didn't know what to say to this. It seemed a touchy subject considering his father passed away already. So he remained silent.

Lavitz broke away from his trance on the pillar, turning back to Dart. "Where else do you want to go?" He pressed.

Dart moved from Lavitz's room out to another similar one right down from it. It too had only a bed, dresser, and light.

Lavitz sighed sadly. "It was my parents' room." He said, lips pressed tightly together as he tried not to think of his father. "But it's been my mom's room since my father passed away in the war." He finally admitted.

Dart wasn't liking this tour all that much. There had to be some place that Lavitz enjoyed in this house that didn't remind him of his father to the point it hurt him.

"There was one more room right?" Dart spit out quickly.

Lavitz looked up. "Yes." He smiled, remembering how he loved the last room most of all.

Dart left another bad memory of Lavitz's behind as he exited the room. The last one was directly across from his parent's room. Man was this house cramped or what?

Lavitz walked strongly in in front of Dart, smile plastered on his face. "This is the library." He stretched an arm out before Dart. "There are many books on strategy." He walked over to one shelf to his right and plucked a book from it. "Are you interested in that, Dart?" he handed the book out to him, teasing, for he already knew the answer.

Dart made a face, shaking his head in exaggeration. "It's my weak point."

Lavitz laughed, putting the book back before going over to a roll-ladder and began pushing it into place.

Dart stared blankly at Lavitz as he moved about with ease. "What are you doing?" he finally asked after a moment.

Lavitz sighed happily as he finished pushing the ladder into the right position. He also wiped his hands together as he glanced over at Dart. "Come here." He waved to him, smile big as ever, as he began to climb.

Dart walked forward some, staring up the ladder at Lavitz as he went. "What is it?"

Lavitz bent his head around to see Dart, snorting at Dart for actually asking questions before acting for once. "I'll show you my treasure." He informed. "But you have to climb." And then he was up out the window, away from view.

Dart smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Treasure?" he muttered, shrugging to himself after an instant before following Lavitz up the smooth brown ladder and out the window. What treasure could it be…?

Lavitz stood out on the roof, looking far out over the city and all its beauty. But mostly he focused on what lied far beyond the city and the trees which seemed to part away to give a perfect sight of the castle. "Here is my treasure." Lavitz finally spoke. "Please take a look at it."

Dart stood by Lavitz, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned in the same direction as Lavitz. "I see…" he whispered, taking it all in. In all honesty, after being in the castle, it wasn't much. But if he were a child, as Lavitz had no doubt been when he discovered the view, it would definitely have looked like the grandest thing in the world. The way the fading light wrapped itself around and bounced off the gigantic building made a beautiful sight to behold. Dart could wholeheartedly say he would sit out here every day if given the opportunity and enjoy it. "…it's a nice view of Indels Castle from here."

Lavitz nodded faintly, smiling brightly. "This is what I saw every day when I was young." He sighed halfheartedly, both comforted and saddened by the memory. "I grew up thinking...'I'll be an admired knight just like my father and I'll protect this country!'"

Dart smiled too. "Your dream came true." He was happy for Lavitz.

Lavitz chuckled, walking closer to the edge of the roof as he looked intensely at the castle. "Yes, but the reality was much harder than I imagined back then." His fists clenched out of reflex and he brought a hand up to his heart, it trembling slightly. "I feel all the more strongly how great my father was. To protect this country I would even tear the flesh from my body." Lavitz turned to the side to look Dart directly in the face. "It's the same passion you have towards Shana." He gave Dart a feasible example for his own feelings in order to truly know he understood.

Dart shrugged, moving back so that he could settle down on the windowsill. As he looked up into the depths of the sky he too crossed his arms back over his chest. "I just...can't hold back." He didn't know what else to say. There was no other way to rationalize his deep feelings for her.

Lavitz saw that Dart was trying not to show his obvious weakness of caring for Shana and as such didn't laugh at him like he could have. Instead he spun around further, pointing a finger at him. "Because you know the importance of Shana's life, you can risk your own!" He said with a firm nod. "You were not a foolish daredevil when you ventured into Hellena." He shook his head knowingly. "No."

Dart looked back to Lavitz as he spoke, interested in what he had to say, if anything, next.

And Lavitz did go on. "Serdio is covered in war clouds now. You are the only one who can protect Shana." He sighed sadly at the thought. War…if only it didn't exist. "You know that, don't you?" His statement of certainty turned into a slight unsure question. He hoped he knew. At least…Dart needed to.

"Yeah." Dart unfolded his arms as he said so, thinking of Shana and how much she'd changed during his absence. Even though he wished she would remain the same…the same girl he protected all his life.

"Dart! Lavitz! The food is ready!" Shana yelled out to them, hoping to not have to go looking for them.

Dart and Lavitz both jumped some, Dart so much so that he wound up standing before it dawned on him that nothing was wrong. It was just lunch. Dart smirked at himself, finding it ridiculous how he was still stuck in alert mode. The Sandora soldiers weren't looking for them anymore. They would be fine.

Lavitz smirked similar to Dart at his friend's reaction, but he didn't comment on it. "Well, the princess needs us." He chuckled, patting Dart on the shoulder before walking around him and heading back down the ladder.

Dart rubbed his head, chuckling with confusion mixed with uncertainty. "'Princess'…?" He tried the word out on his own lips, making a face at the way it felt. "She is like a baby sister to me." He said to himself, following after Lavitz at a slower pace. "Hmm…"

**...**

Lunch was enjoyable for all involved. Lavitz was happy to have spent time with his mother after an extended absence, Dart was relieved to be able to relax for the first time in what felt like forever, and Shana was pleased to just be next to Dart. But she didn't try anything more than send a few tender looks Dart's way. Not that he noticed, of course.

And now they stood at the exit of Lavitz's lovely house, preparing to set off to Hoax, wherever that was. Neither Dart nor Shana knew. But that didn't mean they didn't want to. They were intent on learning all they could about the places they visited. It would be fun.

Lavitz was smiling widely at his mother as he spoke. "As always, your meals are delicious, mom." He complimented with no sign of embarrassment. It didn't bother him like it might have others.

His mother waved his words away with a hand, basking in the attention. "It's such a nice thing to hear." She smiled more tenderly as she thought to add, "But I'll be even happier if you settle down with a bride soon."

"I know, I know." He shook his head in amusement. "I will, mom. I just have to meet the right girl."

Shana giggled at how Lavitz was blushing lightly at the mention of a bride. He was so cute sometimes.

Lavitz cleared his throat then, rubbing his neck. "Well…we ought to be going." He said with a twinge of sadness. He always hated leaving his mother for multiple reasons. One of the most prominent ones being he feared never coming back…just like his father.

"Oh! Are you sure?" She said with a soft sigh. "Then at least take some jerky. It's your favorite."

Lavitz shook his head in the negative. "It's ok, I have enough."

"Well…alright."

"Oh, wait…I forgot something." He added, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her waist as he rested his head on her shoulder for a moment.

She sucked in a sharp breath, slightly surprised that he'd so openly show his affection. Used to he wouldn't want any of his friends to see such a thing. Then again, that was so long ago.

Lavitz let go, stepping back into place. "You give me luck mom." He said simply.

"Oh, Lavitz…" she breathed, lip quivering some before she started to cry happy tears into her hands. "You've grown up while you were away." She wiped at her eyes afterward, looking upward as she spoke again. "Honey, our son became a great knight."

Lavitz frowned deeply, twisting a foot around in small circles about himself. "I was planning on leaving." He started shyly, thinking of how happy him sticking around even a day longer would make her. "But I'm a bit tired." He admitted, looking to Dart as an idea hit him. "Say, why don't we stay here for the night?"

Dart went to object, but seeing Lavitz's pleading eyes made him give in. "Yeah, that'd be great."

Shana nodded in sincere approval, unlike Dart.

Lavitz's face lit up instantly. "Are the beds ready?" he directed at his mother.

His mother nodded firmly. "Of course! I always keep your bed ready for you." She smiled warmly at her son, eyes shining with love.

"I'll be upstairs." Dart said, heading on up so that he wouldn't be interrupting anything that was a parent child thing.

Shana took one last look over at Lavitz before running off after Dart.

Lavitz watched them going, feeling that it was ok to tell her now. "Mom…" he muttered, "I actually want to take your jerky with me."

Her face grew even brighter than before. "I knew it!" she clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "Come here!" she waved him back into the kitchen.

He followed her as a puppy would, with pleasure and devotion. Already he was happy to have chosen one more day with her over jumping right into a trip to Hoax. She made him so happy…

**...**

That night Shana took the one bed and Dart and Lavitz made do on the floor. Not like it bothered them much considering they'd been sleeping on the dirt or not sleeping at all the past week or so. In fact, they were quite pleased. That's why moments after laying their head down on the pillow in the floor they were out like lights. Only Shana lay awake a while after them.

She waited until she was sure both were sound asleep, a sure sign being their heavy snores resounding in the room, before she sat up in her bed. She strained to see over the foot of her bed at the men on the floor. She didn't know why but she liked to watch people sleep, especially Dart.

She grumbled incoherent words to herself when she couldn't get a good enough view before resituating herself so that her feet laid on her pillow and her head rested on the bottom. She smiled. From here she could see perfectly.

Dart was laid out stiffly, like he always was, only sign of relaxation being his hands crossed on his heart. He slept like this even as a child for Shana watched him sleep then too. But now his form wasn't so small and helpless. He wasn't a child. He was a man, a man Shana wasn't sure she knew anymore.

Shana sighed softly at this thought, looking over at Lavitz. She didn't know how he usually slept, not even over the past little bit that they'd been around each other. She'd been too busy worrying over Hellena wardens to take part in such a trivial task.

But as she watched him now he was curled up in a tight ball, hands gripped tight about his knees. He was quite literally an armadillo in his shell. Shana laughed out loud at the notion, clamping her hands over her mouth hurriedly as her voice carried a little too much.

Dart snorted in response, mumbling, "S-Shana…" As his head rolled sideways and an arm slipped down to his side.

Lavitz made a similar noise, his words indecipherable but equally funny nonetheless.

Shana laughed softer this time, removing her hands from her mouth and instead used them to prop her head up off the bed somewhat. As her laughter faded she found herself sighing, this time in content, as she continued to watch Lavitz.

He really was a nice guy. There weren't many like him in the world, especially in such harsh times. And it wasn't just his personality. His appearance was just as enticing. His eyes were so soothing and gentle, like Dart's, and his hair, it looked like if she touched it it would feel like sandpaper. In fact…she kind of wanted to just see.

She shook her head violently back and forth then. What was she thinking? Touching his hair? Ha! How stalker like. Besides, she could never love him. He was a good friend who was even better friends with Dart. And she already had someone. Or…at least she wanted to say she did.

This brought her back to Dart. Dart…oh, Dart. It has been so long since they did things like they did before he left her. Five years of absence. And still he was as dense as ever! Even with all the fighting experience he'd gained over the years, the one thing he didn't learn was that she harbored feelings for him. She'd always had a sort of crush on him even before now, the emptiness just sort of amplified the feeling.

Yet it seemed all the love and desire in the world couldn't turn his head. He was too devoted to things like the war and the Black Monster. That was one thing that Lavitz had over him. He wasn't stupid. She knew he saw the way she looked at Dart, the way she made small gestures to try and get him to see as well, and just about anything else. He got it. She didn't know why, but he did.

Although she supposed she shouldn't really complain. She smiled almost painfully as she thought about it. Most would say she had the better of both worlds. She had not one, but two guys around her all the time. Not just that, but the two together basically made a whole. One was her sworn protector, doing anything in his power to see her happy, while the other, although still there to protect her, was more her emotional outlet. She could talk to him about things that she wouldn't with anyone else, not even Dart.

When she really thought about it she saw herself as a horrible person for taking it all for granted and wishing for more. Perhaps she should just accept things as they were. Maybe, one day, something would snap in Dart and he'd see her as she saw him. And if it didn't…well, he wasn't the only guy out there.

But that didn't mean she'd give up, even if she started to get close with someone else. No, she'd never give up. He was her everything.

She let out a loud yawn as she came to this conclusion, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She figured she should get some rest now. She'd stayed up much too long. At least, that's what he'd say.

So she crawled back into bed the proper way, snuggling into the sheets with a content feeling before her eyes drifted shut and she was consumed by dreams, dreams all about her two men.

**...**

Right off the next day the trio was ready to go, Lavitz a bit unwillingly. He didn't want to leave his mother. It was the worst part of his line of work.

"Don't forget to come see your mother soon." She said with happiness, smiling warmly at the lot of them, but mostly at Lavitz.

Lavitz nodded to her with an equal amount of life. "You know I won't." he swore, crossing his heart to mimic that of an old song he'd heard as a child almost constantly. _Cross my heart and hope to die_. The words echoed in his mind all the while.

"Come on, Lavitz." Dart urged on impatiently, tapping his foot lightly to further display his feelings.

"Oh, be quiet Dart." Shana scowled, hitting him lightly. "You can't rush a kid saying goodbye to his mother." But when she thought about it he probably didn't understand. He'd never had to say goodbye like this, his goodbye had been forever.

Dart grit his teeth as a similar thought flashed through his own mind. "No, I get it." He grumbled halfheartedly, stopping his tapping and instead running his foot in circles on the floor.

Shana dropped her gaze down to the floor, feeling bad already.

Lavitz tried to ignore them as he finished his farewells. "I'll see you when I see you then." He said with a half-smile, hugging her tightly once more.

Dart felt like a class A jackass leaving, but he couldn't take it anymore. So he fled at a hurried pace, trying to keep breathing normal. As he went he tried to think of a way to excuse himself, but there was nothing that didn't sound like, well…an excuse. But he just couldn't watch people, mother and son mostly, bond like that. He'd never really had a chance with his own, his real one, and it damaged him.

"Dart!" Shana yelled at him, sighing irritably as she ran after him, leaving Lavitz by himself.

Dart looked back over his shoulder miserably, slowing to a stop to let her catch up.

"What are you doing?" She asked in exasperation as she got close enough to get a good look at his face. "That was rude."

A fire flared in Dart's eyes for a split second before he quieted it, sighing softly afterward. "I couldn't do it."

Shana looked with confused eyes into his sad blue ones.

"Seeing them…Lavitz and his mom…it reminded me of my family." Saying so out loud felt strange to him. He'd never admitted it so straight forward to anyone before. Everyone got it for the most part without him having to, so he didn't. Honestly, he didn't know why he was telling her now.

Shana looked away from him; frown deepening as he finally verbalized the unspoken truth.

"I know it's wrong. I shouldn't let my past get in the way." A pause. "I just…I wish I could have had what most kids had, a normal life." He laughed bitterly at the sound of it. Normal…nothing was normal for any child anymore. "But I didn't." He shrugged. "Instead, I just have tidbits of memories not enough to sustain a mouse."

Shana twiddled her thumbs as she mulled over her next words. "Is…" she trailed off, having to think twice about how she worded this. "…Is that why you went after him? The Black Monster." She muttered timidly.

Dart's lips pressed tighter against each other at the mention of the loathsome creature. "Maybe."

Lavitz waved energetically back at his mom, looking over his shoulder, as he ran after Dart and Shana. He was so going to say something to them too once he caught up. How could they? Leaving like that. But once he caught sight of their expressions he stopped short. His mouth, parted to berate them, fell shut, and he chose a different route.

Lavitz waited a minute, seeing if they would break the awkward silence, before he tried to remind them of what needed to be done and where they were off to. "Mom wished you all well too." He started, chuckling nervously; afraid one misstep would break the fragile ice they had suddenly been brought to by whatever had gone on while he was absent. "So…we should be going."

This snapped Dart out of it somehow, his head jerking toward Lavitz in alert. "Yes, right." He nodded firmly, a hint of a smile twitching at his lips as he put his hand out for a high five from Lavitz.

Shana found Dart's sudden spark strangely out of place, but then she remembered - Dart was always made at ease by the prospect of a fight or a duty, a duty like protecting others. So why would now be any different? As a child it had been similar, only it was her who had been the relief. Now she only wished for such a thing. She smiled despite herself. But either way, she was just happy that he was happy again.

After giving Dart the high five, a smile spreading clear across Lavitz's face, they departed.

**Hope you liked. Please review! :D**


	7. Rose, the Dark Dragoon

**It's been a little while. I had to focus for midterms. But here is the next chapter, so I hope you enjoy. :)**

Even before they walked beneath the archway that was the gate to the town Dart saw that this town was nothing like Bale. Whereas Bale had been beautifully built with touches of nature still intact, this place seemed void of plant life and was more like a fortress.

And walking into the town only solidified his view.

Stone, stone, and more stone. Stone was all that is place was made of. The only trace of another resource used was the lookout posts set on each corner of the walled in town. All the homes were raised up off the ground, supported by the stone archways where doorways beneath led to other areas where most civilians didn't go. The main place that was underneath a house was set in the center of the town, the focus. It was the headquarters. The other entrances surrounding it were for item or weapon shops, and an inn.

But it was the high reaching wall which really gave the place an isolated feeling. It circled the town all the way around albeit the two entrance gateways on opposite sides. It didn't help that there was a guard set at all angles of the city, high and low, to watch for enemies. It was almost like a prison without jail cells.

Dart sighed sadly. It truly showed what war could do to a place. He could only imagine what this might have looked like without all the add-ons.

Lavitz took in the all too familiar view of the town of Hoax. It was sad, this he knew and believed, even after so long an exposure to such things. So there was no doubt in his mind that Dart and Shana felt ten times stronger about this. This is why he was leading now. "Let's go to the HQ first." He pointed to where he meant. "Kaiser from the Eighth Knighthood must be waiting for us."

Shana looked about dejectedly, slow pace coming to a stop a few feet in.

Dart perked, looking back at her. "What's wrong?" He worried she heard something bad coming.

Shana shook her head. "Is this really a town?" It wasn't really a question, just her verbalizing her disbelief. "It looks like a fortress."

Dart hung his head slightly. "The war changed it." A pause. "War changes everything."

Lavitz turned about, farther ahead than them at this point. "That's true…nobody wanted it, but it couldn't be avoided." He agreed grimly. "Let's just focus on our defenses now."

The trio then headed over under the arch into the residence of the headquarters. It was back in the far reaches of the building that they found who Lavitz had been seeking.

"Kaiser! Long time no see!" he waved to him, stepping one step ahead of his two friends.

"Lavitz! Welcome!" he cried back with a broad smile.

As he spoke with enthusiasm Dart took in his appearance. There wasn't much too him, but he was still worth the look. He wore dark blue armor for the most part, gold shoulder plates and knee plates being the only exception. And as for his physical appearance, he was an older looking man, wrinkles obvious from years of wear, there was a tuft of hair on his chin to match his black hair and his eyes were dark brown.

Kaiser quickly moved on from his cheery greeting, expression falling some. "I see your Knighthood was..." he trailed off.

A frown twitched at the corners of Lavitz's lips. "Yeah, it was my mistake." He admitted sadly. "But I won't let the dreams of my company end in death and be in vain!" he instantly perked, clenching his fist in dedication before his face. "I'll end the war and unify Serdio! I will!"

"Hmm…" Kaiser muttered, smiling with less intensity but still a certain pleased look. "We can not stop until we make our dreams come true." He nodded firmly.

Lavitz did as he did, bringing his fist down swiftly in the air. "Yeah!" A pause. "Now, I brought you two powerful helpers, Dart and Shana." He motioned toward them with his head.

Kaiser followed Lavitz's eyes. "Oh! You are the famous guy who rescued Lavitz!" he stuck out his hand for him. "I am Kaiser, the head of the Eighth Knighthood. Nice to meet you!"

Dart nodded, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. "Likewise." As he released his grip he spoke again. "Could you inform me of how we stand now?" He immediately jumped into battle mode.

Kaiser complied. "We are still preparing for the raid of Sandoras." He frowned lightly as he thought of his next words. "What I am concerned about is the information that they are using a dragon."

Lavitz jumped back into the conversation. "That's why it's better to fortify here and see how they move, rather than attacking a dragon that we don't know about." He was beyond serious as he said this.

Dart didn't question him. He'd learned over the past time he'd been with him that he knew just as much if not more about fighting than he did. He just went along with him. "Then it'll be up to how fast we can spot the approach of the enemy."

Kaiser was quite pleased with how compliant Dart was. Most recruits that were unfamiliar with their tactics questioned them at least to a degree. Then again, he should just take it as it was and not inquire on his behavior. "Great. Indeed you are right!" he nodded to further show his pleasure. "Dart, Lavitz, why don't you be the guard at night?" He glanced over at the girl, coming to a conclusion on his own. "Having Shana too is not a good idea."

Dart smiled widely at this. Yes, yes! Definitely not.

"Can you prepare the meals for the knights?" He half asked, not caring if she served a purpose or not.

"Preparing meals…?" She pondered, lighting up soon after as she chose. "Okay! Dart, you're going to love it!" She turned to him as she said this, full of pride.

Dart nodded faintly at her. "Yes, I am looking forward to it."

Lavitz tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I'm a bit concerned…" He muttered a little too loudly, meaning for only Dart to hear.

Shana's face turned shocked at such a thought coming out of his lips. He was supposed to be the courteous, faithful one. What the heck! "Wha-What!" She spluttered. "Your mother gave me a nice compliment!"

Dart snickered, following in Lavitz's lead despite his previous words of faith. "But in the past…" He murmured, not finishing his sentence because it was not necessary and Lavitz started speaking again.

Lavitz shrugged faintly. "I guess it may be edible…" Even as the words passed his lips a slight frown remained on his face.

Shana huffed in irritation, crossing her arms over her chest to further display her displeasure. "I don't like what Lavitz said." She grumbled.

Dart scrambled to fix the situation with what he thought to be encouraging words. "I can enjoy and eat any food." Dart said with a firm nod toward her, smile wide. "Just make a lot!"

Shana's frown deepened. "I don't like what Dart said so much either." She averted her gaze, not wanting to look at either of her boys right now.

Kaiser didn't know Shana at all, but nevertheless he tried to make her feel a bit better. After all, she was going to be cooking his meal too. "I don't care about the taste. Edible is enough." He paused before adding, "Just salt it enough for flavor!" He cried brightly.

Shana groaned loudly, hands dropping back to her side. "Even Mr. Kaiser too."

Lavitz glared lightly over at Kaiser. "Kaiser! Why are you stirring things up even more?" He cried.

Kaiser smiled in embarrassment, chuckling nervously. "I thought I was trying to relax her!" He insisted.

Lavitz looked to Dart and shrugged. Shana was being a little unreasonable. She needed to relax some. Then again, it was probably harder said than done.

Kaiser cleared his throat, moving on. "Now that that matter is settled, I want Dart and Shana to go look around Hoax. The night guards have to know the place. And it would be kind of relaxing for you two." A pause. "After you look around, come back to me."

Shana moved closer to Dart's side, so tempted to clasp his hand. Only she couldn't bring herself to do it since she was afraid it might ruin an y joy Dart would find in this walk.

Kaiser chuckled at her change in position before turning his attention to Lavitz. "Stay with me, Lavitz. I want to go over the battle conditions with you." He had thought to make Dart stay at first too, but he hadn't because he figured knowing the surroundings was best.

Dart inwardly whined, not liking that he wouldn't get to hear the battle conditions along with Lavitz. It made him feel like he wouldn't be Lavitz's equal in battle. Still, he didn't want to complain so he turned toward Shana with a forced smile and asked, "Now, shall we?"

Shana nodded with cheer, waiting for Dart to lead the way before moving.

Lavitz snickered as he watched them leave together, calling after them to say, "Get along with each other!"

Dart glared at him playfully over his shoulder, smile ever present. "Yeah, yeah." He scoffed, exiting the room shortly after.

The pair took an immediate left up a stone stairway, took a few steps forward, and went right again up another short stairway before wandering up the final slope to the highest point of the wall. From there they could see all of the little isolated town of Hoax. It was nothing more than Dart had guessed it would be as they entered. In a way it took away from the intrigue.

"The view is nice." Shana muttered to fill the silence, looking at Dart only from the corner of her eye so that it didn't seem like she was trying desperately to get him to pay her attention.

Dart shrugged, making a soft noise of indifference. "Nothing will beat what we saw from the castle."

Shana frowned slightly at Dart's attitude toward small talk before grinning again out of nothing more than pure instinct. "Maybe not, but the view's not the only thing to see here." She took a hold of his wrist. "Come on."

Dart raised a brow at her.

Her smile widened further. "Let's go look in some of the houses."

"Isn't that kind of…" he trailed off, realizing he didn't really care if it was violating someone else's space or not. Shana looked too happy about the idea for him to say no. "Why not?" He chuckled instead.

Shana giggled softly at his change in tune, dragging him on along the stone wall a ways and down a small slope where the familiar smooth footing changed into bumpy planks.

The planks bordered the northwest corner, ending only when it met with the roof of a house. Dart didn't know if it was meant for people to walk on the roofs considering the layout, but he let Shana drag him nonetheless.

They hopped from rooftop to rooftop for a spell, the path which led to the first one not linking with the others. But it was a short jump. All the houses were scrunched together quite nicely if Dart did say so himself. Heck, he even admitted that this was kind of a little fun. It almost reminded him of when they were kids and jumped around patches of land in the swamp.

Dart might have flashed back then, but Shana's voice cut through his mind. "There!" She exclaimed, pointing over to a house which wasn't set in a curved line like the others. There was once again the concrete path which led over to a window set on the roof of the house. "Let's go in that one."

Dart shrugged. Maybe being up in the attic meant no one would see them sneaking around in their home. "Ok." He said simply, sliding down the roof of the house they stood on to land on the stone path which they then followed to the house which Shana wanted to see.

Strangely enough the window was set open for them. Then again, in a place like this no one probably ever thought to break into a house just because a window gave them the opportunity.

Shana was first to squeeze herself down through the window, finding her footing on a stack of boxes before jumping easily down to the floor. As she touched down she upset the long resting dust on the floor and walls, sending it flying into the air to irritate her nose. And she did sneeze.

Dart didn't bother using the boxes as support, just dropped down next to her, rubbing his nose lightly as the dust reached him as well. However it didn't bother him as it was bothering Shana. "You alright?"

She sneezed four of five times in a row before finally pinching her nose, breathing only through her mouth. "Uh-huh." She said in a nasally voice.

Dart frowned lightly at her, not fully believing her, before shrugging and deciding she was well enough so that she wasn't going to die. "So what do you want to do now?"

Shana smiled through her hand which covered her mouth as it held her nose closed. "There are a lot of boxes. Why don't we look through some?"

"You're really looking to get into trouble aren't you?" Dart chuckled, touching her shoulder lightly.

For once Shana barely cared about the contact. She was learning how to not lose her head over such trivial things and just enjoy his company. It wasn't worth it getting excited over something that was natural between what they were looked at as…siblings. "No!" she finally answered, laughing. "It's not like we're gonna steal it anyway." She assured him, walking over to a box in the far corner.

Dart rolled his eyes at her, meandering over to and kneeling down next to her.

More dust flew in the air as she lifted the flaps, but this time it didn't bother her. She then waited for the dust to clear some before she let go of her nose in order to dig through the contents.

Dart just sat there as she searched, arms crossed over his chest. He wasn't too into this. He thought it was kind of wrong and boring. And besides, the box wasn't big enough for them both to be going through it! It was better if he watched.

"Oh! Look!" Shana cried, bringing out an old necklace laced with blue crystals. They might have even been diamonds Shana thought.

Dart looked lazily over, raising a brow as he laid eyes on it. It looked extremely expensive, not like anything he'd ever seen. He even had to wonder where it might have originated from. Could it have come from royalty even? "Probably an antique." He said simply. "You should put it back." He pointed back down to the box.

Shana puffed out her lower lip in pouting. "You're absolutely no fun." She grumbled, setting it gently back down. "This is supposed to be a time of bonding." She explained. "And I'm not feeling it."

Dart shook his head, smiling in amusement. "Oh, hush." He chuckled. "Me just being here with you is bonding enough for me." It was his turn to explain. "There doesn't need to be anything more going on."

Shana stared, brow furrowed, at him for a time before a smile finally worked its way back onto her face. "I suppose." She admitted, smile also infecting her tone. She then stood up. "But in that case, we don't need to be digging through dust."

Darts indifference to this instantly changed at the suggestion as he raised up to stand taller than her. "Yeah, you're right." He agreed wholeheartedly. "So what do we do now?" Even though he didn't want another activity that was so boring he wanted to make her happy and let her pick their next actions.

Shana brightened further. "There's a ladder over there." She pointed to the opposite corner.

Dart sighed softly, shrugging some. "Lead the way."

Shana took hold of his hand this time, relishing in his touch and limited reaction this time. Perhaps he was getting used to it. "Alright." She spoke as she got over to the ladder, knowing she had to let go of him to make her way down the ladder. "You better follow me." She teased, knowing without a doubt he'd follow her now since he'd follow her to the ends of the earth without a second thought.

And so he did. He went down feet first after her, going extra slow so that he didn't accidentally run over her.

Shana didn't step down on the last rung, jumping gently down on the floor. She went to call to Dart to hurry it up, stopping as she saw someone out of the corner of her eye.

It was a woman, an old one by the looks of it. Her hair was grayed and body bent over as she rocked slowly back and forth in her rocking chair of equal age to her.

Dart jumped from a higher up distance than Shana did, grunting softly on touchdown. He too froze upon sight of the woman. He knew this was a bad idea. They were going to get hit over the head with a cane or something now. This was great, just great.

As he mentally slapped himself he noticed Shana move from her still position over to the front of the old woman.

"Shana!" He snapped in a hushed voice, sighing irritably before following after her.

The woman looked up slowly, almost mechanically. "Oh…" she whispered, a weak smile forming on her lips. "Well, well…we have guests."

Dart figured since their presence was already known he might as well introduce himself. It would be rude not to. "I'm Dart." He nodded automatically. "I am joining in the defense of Hoax for a while." This passed his lips just as naturally.

She nodded feebly. "And both of you…" She began. "…when are you having your baby?" The idea made her smile widen.

Dart's face was instantly drained of color, eyes wide as could be as he even jumped back a step in shock. "W-What!" He cried, breathing elevated. "What are you talking about!"

Shana smiled at the thought. "Y-Yes!" She played along, liking how it made Dart squirm. "We are…" She sighed, clasping her hands at her chest as she took a step forward. "But it's too early." This time her voice changed to a mite bit shaky like any real pregnant woman would sound at the prospect of a child at a time like this.

The midwife found the girl's antics amusing, but easily saw that her act was just that, an act. No man who was in love would react as such to the idea of a child. "Oh…" She murmured. "…you're visiting a famous midwife, so I thought you wanted to get some advice about having a baby."

Dart still had his hands up in denial of the prospect even now that she knew the truth, a disturbed look present on his face. And he remained speechless.

Shana giggled at him, turning her gaze back to the midwife shortly after.

"Anyway, come back anytime if you are going to have one." She paused, thinking to add, "I was the midwife for King Albert too." This particular fact she took great pride in.

Dart finally found his voice, shaking his head back and forth to rid himself of any lingering shock and fear. "Then you have been observing this country since before the war?" It was half a question, half a statement. She sure as heck looked old enough to have at least.

She nodded faintly. "Yes." She said with a hint of sadness. "It was seventeen years ago. The former king, Carlo, passed away and his younger brother, Doel, broke away." She paused to lick her lips, continuing immediately after. "It seems he couldn't stand His Majesty Albert, who was only six then, be king." She sighed, bitter over the way things played out. "His Majesty Doel and His Majesty Carlo used to be very close too. I wonder what made them change…?" Her last sentence was more to herself then her guests.

Dart nodded at her, feeling sort of glad he snuck down here with Shana now. It was interesting to hear about the way things were even before he was born. But he didn't have as much time to give as he might have liked. This small explanation would have to do. "We gotta go now."

"Well, work hard." She offered the only thing she could in her age, encouragement. "And when you need me, come back anytime." She sure hoped that she would get to be this pair's midwife before she ceased to live any longer. They were rather interesting looking and acting to say the least.

Dart rubbed his head, chuckling nervously. "'Need me?'" He repeated. "Meaning need a midwife?"

A glare instantly formed on Shana's face at Dart's choice of words and tone and she kicked him hard in the back of the leg to reprimand him. "Thank you!" She chirped to the old woman shortly after, bowing slightly to further reveal her appreciation.

Dart found himself on the floor as Shana hit him at the most tender and open place on his body. What the hell? Was she insane or what? He just asked a question…well, sort of. He growled lightly as he stared up at her. Alright, so maybe he deserved a good smack, he admitted it. But did she have to hit him like that? Really?

Upon showing her thanks she swirled around in Dart's direction, waving her hands around in a fussy manner as she scolded him further. "We're lucky!"

Dart didn't know what to say to this. Lucky? It wasn't like they were ever going to be coming here, not together at least. Dart felt he would have his own wife and Shana her own husband. Did Shana not think the same…?

Without another word the pair left just as they came, wandering back across the rooftops and down the stone footing to see if the meeting was over. They'd seen enough at least. Not like there was too much to see anyway, but that wasn't the point. Neither would have wanted to look around more even if there was more to see.

Unlike the first time Shana now took up the back position, following slowly after Dart as her mind wandered. So…he still thought of her as a baby sister. The scene a moment ago had made that quite clear. She sighed. Oh, well. Like she'd told herself before, she'd just have to live with what attention he gave her and try her hardest to change his mind.

Although Dart had been troubled by the previous scene as they walked, being sure to remain silent all the while, by the time he walked through the doors to where Lavitz, Kaiser, and a few others were gathered he hardly recalled what it was that had perturbed him. All he thought of was the fight looming ahead.

Kaiser looked up at the sound of the door opening and closing, smiling slightly at the sight of them. "Did you see enough?" He wanted to be sure.

Dart nodded firmly, completely sure of himself.

Shana took a moment longer to respond and her nod wasn't exactly certain. It was faint, her eyes glued to the ground all the while.

Kaiser frowned at how unsettled she seemed, wondering for a split second what might have happened to cause such a slip in demeanor, before quickly moving on. "Good. We have just finished the strategic meeting." A pause. "Now, I'll take you to your position." He then headed over to and out the door, expecting them to follow.

Dart and Lavitz naturally followed without hesitation. It was the way any good soldier knew how to act.

Kaiser waited for them to catch up before directing them. "I want to ask both of you to guard the back gate." He pointed up in the direction Dart and Shana had went up the stairs when exploring. "It's at the end of the stairs."

They nodded in unison, not thinking to say anything at all before doing as they were told and heading on up the stairs to the very top.

Dart was the first to reach their destination and as such was the one to relieve the knight of his spot as guard. "I am here to replace you." He said simply. "You can trust us." He waved to Lavitz to indicate him as well.

The soldier bowed slightly. "Yes, sir." And then he was quick to run past them back down the stone stairs and into the meeting room.

Dart settled himself on the stone wall, head resting in his hands as his elbows sat on the smooth raised surface.

Lavitz moved over toward him, not bothering to situate himself when he knew he'd be sitting down on the ground shortly after.

Dart decided to fill the silence. "If Sandora attacks, it will be a night raid."

Lavitz silently agreed. "We can not relax till morning." He made sure to inform his friend despite the fact he should know this already. "So rest while it's still light." If they weren't at full strength it could end badly. This he had experienced before.

Dart rose back up off the wall, smiling at his own ignorance. "You're right." He then turned about, sliding down the wall until he felt the ground beneath him. "Then we'd best do so."

Lavitz followed suit, taking his spot next to him. "Yep."

It was nightfall now as they stood watch on the wall, wide and alert as ever. The stars scattered throughout the sky gleamed brightly all the while, not a cloud present, and the moon casting a brilliant light down on the otherwise dark city.

The fact that there was no motion albeit their own furthered the sense of peace in the atmosphere, even the sounds about them were soothing. It was so wonderful. So wonderful that Dart almost hated to ruin it by speaking. "It's strangely quiet tonight." He muttered thoughtfully, rising up off the wall to stand straight and look to Lavitz. "If the dragon comes near, we can easily tell."

Lavitz took his eyes from the surrounding forest to look at him, a questioning gaze on his face. "Why is that?"

Dart waved his hand about in a circular motion. "There are those in the forest." He looked to the forest as he spoke of things concerning it. "Nocturnal owls are hooting. It's the proof that nobody is in the forest." He paused, rubbing his arm some in unease. "So…I'm gonna go grab something." He said a little to fast.

Lavitz chuckled in amusement. "Worrying about Shana?" He teased.

Dart shook his head fervently, moving his hands back and forth in an x formation. "It's not that." He said unconvincingly, smiling bashfully.

Lavitz shrugged. "Bring me back something." If he didn't want to admit she was his weakness then that was his business. All that mattered was that Dart knew what he had to do to keep her safe.

"Sure." He agreed in nonchalance, turning about and heading down the stairs slowly.

Halfway down the gentle hooting echoing around them suddenly came to an end, Dart drawing in a sharp breath as the sound of many frantic beating wings took its place. "The owls…" he whispered, freezing in his place as he waited for what he knew would follow.

High pitched war cries rose in the air instantly after, growing louder as the army swarmed them, arrows flying through the air like rain.

The soldier in the watch tower drew in a sharp breath, spinning around to yell at the top of his lungs, "The enemy is coming!"

Soldiers of their own instantly flew out from the buildings, spears at the ready as they made their own war cries.

A second soldier in the watchtower scrambled to get down on open terrain, getting flattened upon touchdown by his own man as he was shot down out of the tower by a flaming arrow.

Kaiser burst forth from the meeting room, ordering wildly, "Knighthood, advance! Fortify the gate!" He jerked his head about to the men in a pile on the roofs. "And you! Take care of the casualties!"

The man on top looked up with a fear in his eyes. "Y-Yes, sir!" He managed to spit out, crawling off of the man beneath him to take him to a safe zone and treat him.

Lavitz was quick to catch up to Dart, leaping down off the second story flooring down to the ground to reach the battlefield before his friend. "We'll counter them!" He barked, spinning his spear wildly.

"Yeah!" Dart growled fiercely, yanking his sword from his sheath with intensity, eyes burning with angry passion.

They were swarmed instantaneously by a group of five, each diving at them without a second thought.

Dart yawned boredly as he jumped to the side in the blink of an eye, jabbing his sword through two of them in one go. This was getting way to easy.

Lavitz ducked and rolled under each of the remaining three's legs, slicing clean through each ones legs as he tumbled.

As Dart remained alert he drew in a sharp breath upon seeing a strange figure clear the wall and land on the wall they'd previously been guarding, the man now up there being no match for him.

The soldier took one jab and it was all over.

The strange figure gripped his spear, breaking it clean in half, before smacking him mercilessly down off the wall to hit a roof before crashing all the way to the ground.

The sinister man cackled deviously, head lifted in the air so that the sound carried. "Is this the battle HQ for the front lines of Basil! HA! What a weak setup!" He had a complete body suit of pitch black so as to blend in, but it was not strong. He was more about stealth.

Dart stabbed another oncoming enemy with ease, bending his head around to Lavitz. "I will guard the top!" He yelled, rushing up the stairs.

Lavitz went to follow him, being forced to stop as another soldier struck at him.

Lavitz held up his own spear in defense, barely struggling as they fought for dominance. "Gotcha! Trust me to handle here!"

The man, a Sandora elite, broke out into laughter as Dart came within his sights. "What guts you have, coming alone like that!"

"Shut up!" Dart snapped, furious.

Lavitz shoved roughly against his enemy, buying himself enough time to drive a blow straight through his heart, killing him instantly, before rushing up to Dart. "I'm here!" He stated the obvious, taking a spot with equal defensiveness by Dart. "And I got those guys at the bottom!"

The elite snorted in boredom. "One or two doesn't make any difference. I'll kill you all; no matter how hard you struggle!" He broke into maniacal laughter again, raising his hands up in an offensive position. "So bring it!"

Dart snorted right back. "Big talkers are usually weak."

The elite growled lightly at such an accusation, charging swiftly at the duo with no mercy.

Dart hopped back a space to be sure of what he was doing, while Lavitz did not.

Lavitz charged the same as the elite, driving his spear through the air toward his heart.

The elite was more limber than any warrior, fluently springing back on his hands then back to his feet twice before stopping. "Pathetic." He hissed.

Lavitz wasn't so much mad as he was surprised by his agility, standing dumbly ten feet from him.

Dart was now the one to act. He headed at the elite as if to strike him, waiting just long enough for him to move before really trying.

The elite grinned wickedly, leaping up over Dart this time to get behind him and gain the upper hand.

Dart had been hoping he would do this, flinging his sword upward as he went over to catch whatever body part he was allowed.

With his agility came the fact his armor was pathetic. The elite let out a pained howl, one leg completely gone as he landed crouched down. "You…bastard!" He screamed, eyes turning a crimson red.

Dart sucked in a breath as he saw what happened next.

The elite started to lift up off the ground, floating in midair as a foreign language spilled out of his mouth and a red ball of light formed in his hands.

Lavitz broke out of his trance then, thinking only of stopping him before he unleashed this hell on them and his people as he charged.

The elite wasn't using his eyes now, he sensed the heat coming from the man and shot further into the air, loosing his power down on him from above.

"Lavitz, move!" Dart cried, tackling Lavitz out of the way as the flaming ball obliterated the section of the wall.

"Damn it." Lavitz growled, picking himself up quickly. "We can't touch him like this."

The elite threw two streams of burning light at them, one from each hand, as they stood idly, forcing them to move.

And they did.

The two felt as if they were getting nowhere as they dove, leapt, and maneuvered all over the wall, nimbly avoiding a crispy end.

They were beneath the eves of a house as they doubled over, breathing unnaturally heavy. "This isn't working…" Dart heaved.

"Tell me something I don't know." Lavitz heaved back, snapping to attention instantly after as he spied yet another fire ball headed toward them. "Get going!" He pushed Dart to the side roughly before jumping the opposite way himself, feeling his leg burning some as a flame caught him.

"Lavitz!" Dart screamed as he heard him stifle a yelp.

The elite let loose his signature laugh again at the sound of this man in distress. How he did enjoy fear. "So stupid, choosing to help another before helping yourself." He broke into laughter again.

Dart's eyes caught fire instantly. "**Shut up**!" And he drove his sword straight through the cocky elites gut.

The elite sucked in a sharp breath, eyes wide in shock.

Dart smirked up at him, a dark pleasure in his eyes.

Somehow this brought the elite back, him laughing in insanity now more than anything. "You fool!" And he disappeared, voice still echoing. "You can't win, no matter how hard you try."

Dart growled fiercely, gripping his sword tighter as he looked frantically about himself. "You coward!" He bellowed. "Show yourself!"

His laughter came again. "Of course." He agreed. "But I won't be alone."

Dart tensed at this. "What!"

The elite reappeared again, berserk eyes revealing how close he was to death. "Now beat **this**!" He took the same form as when he threw fireballs, the same foreign language following, only this time the flame was purple and when he finished spinning about there were suddenly three of him.

Dart sucked in a sharp breath.

"Can you nail the real me!" He cackled, each him spreading out around Dart in a dizzying circle.

Dart growled lightly under his breath, muscles tensed to the max as he struggled to keep each in his sights. "Coward!"

All three laughed in unison, swapping places multiple times by what appeared to be transporting in Dart's eyes. "At least I'll be alive at the end!" Each said together.

Dart screamed as he charged at the one dead ahead of him and slashed through his body, finding no resistance in the move.

The elite's body grew grainy, flickering from fully visible to translucent repeatedly.

Dart drew back as he watched the elite's body slowly disappear, teeth grit hard. Where the hell was Lavitz?

The chanting started up again, mingled with the sound of echoing laughter from his other counterparts. "Try again, try again, try again!" They taunted.

Dart swirled around as a whoosh sound filled the air, at least twenty copies of the elite standing before his wide eyes.

The laughter now was truly demented, each posed to strike this time.

Dart was quickly losing any amount of control he had possessed, heading blindly at each one he could get to, slicing through their stomach, across their necks, and even at their legs at an astonishing speed.

None bothered moving out of the way, allowing him to fight an illusion while one from afar shot the first strike.

Dart grunted as he felt the edge of the throwing star slice across his cheek before he swirled about, knowing that the real one must have done this.

There stood the culprit, a foot away, smiling wickedly. "Next time it's your throat."

Dart glowered menacingly at him, putting all his strength into lobbing his head off.

Unfortunately he was just as unreal as all the rest.

"You fool." Only the real one spoke from high above. "You may not be able to touch us…but we can all **kill** you."

On command each of his duplicates hurled countless throwing stars at Dart.

There was no way for him to avoid them all, the best he could do was shield himself with an arm and never stop moving along the narrow wall.

"Run chicken, run." The taunts went on.

Dart slide down a roof, getting down low to hide for a fraction of a second. "Damn it…" he whined, rubbing his wounds tenderly. "I can't pick him out." He couldn't believe himself. "And those throwing stars…" They'd pierced his armor easily.

And they were on him again, staring him down with intensity, stars in their hands.

Dart thought for a split second on falling to the ground before he did a turnabout, returning to slicing each of the illusions as fast as he could manage after being run ragged.

But suddenly the crowd parted, all but a few vanished.

Dart sucked in a breath, hands trembling around his weapon as he prepared for the worst.

And then a heavy metal chain shot out from the distance, wrapping itself around Dart's left arm.

Dart felt himself being jerked upright, chain pulled taunt and tight to cut off circulation.

Dart growled angrily at this change in tactics, pulling back with all his might to try and overpower whoever set at the opposite end.

It wouldn't budge an inch despite his strength. It was like it was connected to a support beam or something.

That was when he used his head and decided to use the weapon he held. No matter how strong it was against his body it was rusted horribly and would shatter with one good strike.

He raised his sword high, bringing it down with all his strength and expecting freedom.

But then another chain shot from the opposite direction of the first, gripping his wrist tightly and freezing his swing an inch above the target.

Dart's eyes widened, a sharp intake of breath following.

After giving him a moment of shock the chain was yanked back, extending his arm as far as it would go.

After that the others came in the blink of an eye.

Soon both his feet were gripped the same and even his neck was seized, constricted tight enough to make breathing difficult, but not so much as to kill him…yet.

Dart struggled fruitlessly against his restraints, body weak from the earlier assaults.

That bone chilling laughter came again as Dart fought, growing closer all the while. "Fool." The elite hissed.

Dart snapped to attention at the sound of his voice, eyes narrowed into thin slits and mouth curved into a sharp snarl.

"I told you you'd lose." He chuckled, gripping Dart's chin roughly.

Dart bit at him, catching his hand and tasting the metallic taste of blood. He was real.

"Bastard!" He screamed, snapping his fingers so that the chain squeezing Dart's neck pulled back, jerking Dart's head up toward the sky.

Dart groaned faintly, the tainted blood of his enemy trickling from the corner of his mouth. "I'll…kill…you…" He choked out.

This made the elite burst out laughing. "Kill me? Really? You can't even break out of your bonds." He taunted.

Dart bared his teeth, flinging his sword uselessly toward the elite with no real power.

The elite snorted. "And look at you. If not for those restraints you probably couldn't stand." He smirked deviously, whipping out a dagger and stabbed it deep in his stomach.

Dart sucked in a sharp breath, coughing up blood as he struggled to hide his pain. Lavitz…where was Lavitz…?

"And don't expect your friend to come to your rescue either." He sneered. "I took care of him first."

This is what broke Dart. He hung his head sadly, not thinking for a second that Lavitz was better than that.

The elite snickered, taking back his dagger. "And now it's your turn." He hissed, eyes narrowed into slits and mouth a sinister smile.

And blood was splattered across the wall, making a sickening sound.

Only it wasn't Dart's.

As he slowly looked up he saw the elite standing, eyes wide and mouth agape as his breaths grew short, a spear stuck straight through his chest.

"Y-You…" he whispered with his last breath, collapsing to the ground limp as a ragdoll and eyes ever open with fear.

When Lavitz was sure he was dead he took his weapon back, snorting at the fool before walking the remaining space to Dart.

The chains restraining Dart instantly grew slack and soon slipped off of him completely. He sighed in relief, rubbing his neck tenderly as he took in Lavitz's change in appearance since he'd seen him last.

Lavitz was about as bad as he was, cuts and gashes covering his body, particularly his face, clothes ripped and torn, armor cracked, and a crazed look in his eyes. "Finally…" he murmured with a heavy sigh. "Damn bastard needed to die already."

Dart wanted to smile at his choice of words, but could not find the energy. So instead he asked weakly, "You ok?"

Lavitz nodded faintly, wiping at the blood on his lips. "Fine."

"What about the rest?"

Lavitz surveyed the place. "The fight's nearly over."

Dart could not have been happier to hear this. He didn't think he could take much more combat in his state; he was honestly surprised to still be standing when his legs were quaking beneath him. "Good." He could see Shana then too. He hoped to dear God she was all right.

Then amongst the angry cries of battling warriors there was a sharp cry that had the distinct sound of terror wrapped around it and a fellow soldier of Basil came flying into view, falling flat on his face in his frenzy.

Dart and Lavitz snapped to attention immediately, falling back into battle mode.

Right behind the now backward crawling soldier stood a ridiculously huge monster of a man. His face was painted up, a red stripe streaked in a curve down over both eyes; his hair was a spiked strip of black down the middle of his head, and eyes yellow, laced with malice.

He wore an animal pelt around his waist, held in place by a stone bull belt much larger than the average belt to fit his size; the same fuzzy pelts on both wrists and his ankles all the way up to the knee. He also wore large metal boots, ankle wear, similar strips just below his knee, brass knuckles, elbow shields, plated shoulder armor with signs of another pelt sticking out a few inches from beneath, and two brown straps going across his chest in an x form, a decent sized circular piece holding the straps together. But it was his size that made him the fearsome beast that he was.

Lavitz started, teeth grit as he took in all this. "What is that giant!" He cried, body trembling from both exhaustion and slight fear for both himself and all his men that had faced this behemoth before him.

The knight had faintly heard Lavitz, but mostly was talking to himself as he screamed. "It's Gi-Giganto!" And he was then able to leap to his feet and fly like the wind away from the scene.

Dart stared blankly. "Giganto?" He breathed, captivated.

The monsters feet pounded on the ground as he went, making the very floor shake beneath them, enormous ax completing his look of superiority.

Dart felt his heart beating fast in his chest as he prepared to go down and do what he had to. "Lavitz!" He snapped, jerking his head toward him to stare seriously into his eyes and beg for an answer.

Lavitz finally opened his mouth. "I heard about it before…but he is real!" He shook his head in uncertainty. "The ones who fought so far were no match for him!"

Dart shook his head fervently in the negative. "Well he is still not a dragon!" He said with determination, hope mingled in with his words as he darted down the stairs toward certain doom.

"Dart, wait!" Lavitz called after him, reaching out and getting nothing but air. He sighed irritably, chasing after him. "You can't! Neither of us can! We're too badly wounded."

Dart paused at the last flight, holding his bleeding stomach in pain. "I won't give up!" He snarled, thinking solely of his first home and how it had been destroyed, him unable to do anything to stop it. "I won't let it be like before!" And he charged.

"Dart!" Lavitz cried, taking a leap off of the raised walk to land directly in front of Dart.

"Dart jumped back, startled by his body in front of him. "What the hell!"

"I won't let you!" Lavitz cried, brandishing his spear and thrusting it at the giant.

The Giganto raised his ax, making contact with Lavitz's weapon and hitting him back. "Kongol no lose." He grunted.

"Wanna bet!" Dart roared, assaulting him.

Kongol was in no way agile, but he more than made up for it with him immense strength. With a single swing he'd knocked Dart backward on his butt, his weapon sent flying across the ground.

"Dart!" Lavitz cried, spear raised to impale the beast in the back.

Kongol had his ax raised high over his head with one hand, eyes full of hate as he bashed Lavitz ruthlessly with his fist before aiming to slice Dart clear in half.

Lavitz hit the wall with a thud, nearly losing consciousness from the blow.

Dart scrambled to get back up, all his limbs failing him in the moment. He knew it was over and cringed in anticipation.

Then something caught Kongol's attention from high up in the sky, a sparkling light.

The tiny light grew nearer until the light faded and out shot a woman flying on wings outlined in dark purple.

Kongol sensed the threat she posed, pointing his ax threateningly in her direction.

Somehow she showed no fear, swooping down on Kongol like he was her prey and locked swords with him for an instant before shooting back into the air with insurmountable grace.

Dart stared wide eyed at the woman, captivated. And…wasn't she…?

She turned about as she reached her peak, floating in place. As she did so she slowly raised her sword, pointing it in Dart's direction now.

Dart was up on one knee now, Lavitz standing by him, both unsure of what she was about to do next.

The woman clad in thick armor akin to a dress of dark purple with intricate designs of creatures of legend cried out, "Wake up! Dragoon of the Red-Eye Dragon!"

Dart's memento hanging on a string suddenly shined a blinding red light that quickly engulfed his entire body, making him cry out in pain mingled with surprise as he shot into the air with unimaginable speed. As he went he could feel his body transforming, the ball of light catching fire as he swerved about in the air.

Kongol stepped back a step, bringing his ax up in uncertainty.

And then Dart zoomed back down to the ground, slamming directly into Kongol and his raised ax without any pain.

Kongol was sent spiraling back through the air, head pile driving into the concrete and cracking it as he skid a good ten feet before his body went limp.

Lavitz stared agape at Kongol's still form before looking up at Dart who was finally coming back down to the ground.

As Dart touched down the fire around him dissipated, giving him a clear view of what he'd become.

He was just as the woman was, the strange thick armor covering nearly every inch of his body. The designs were nearly identical too, only his was red orange instead of her black one. His arm guards now stretched from his hand all the way up to his elbow, extended slightly farther past so that the end took on the look of a frozen flame, his chest shoulder combo suit was much the same, the blue green shoulder section with the red flame style setting on top and thin strips running down over it extended out much farther than necessary.

Farther down his shoes were now that red armor as well, reaching all the way up to his knees with the thinner blue green piece with gold lines running unorganized over it covering the rest of his legs. As he touched his forehead he felt a band, green gems embedded in it.

The last thing he noticed that, like the woman, at the center of his chest where his heart lied there was a large oval shaped jewel of the color green. It was almost like his power stemmed from it. And finally he found his voice, shock never fading. "Wha-What is…?"

Before he could finish his sentence the woman transformed herself back to her original form, falling from her place in the sky to land gracefully on her own two feet.

As she landed Dart sucked in a sharp breath, unable to do anything more. He'd been right. It was her, the woman from the forest.

She turned her head lazily toward him, flipping her long black hair out of her eyes as she smirked with familiarity.

At this point one of the few remaining enemy soldiers who had been watching cried out, "The-These are not humans!" And he scrambled off, not caring if the battle was won or lost. He just wanted to escape with his life.

"Dart, you…what happened to you!" Lavitz spit out, slightly afraid of what his friend had become. Because whatever he was, he was strong enough to fight off a Giganto, and that was something.

Dart shook his head in confusion and an equal amount of fear as Lavitz possessed. "I don't know..." He admitted. "I don't know what happened to me."

The woman walked forward some, waiting for their eyes to fall on her. "The Knight of the Dragon, the Dragoon was born." She said simply, as if it were common knowledge.

From the side there was a loud groan, catching all of their attention. Kongol sat up, rubbing his aching head with his free hand.

The woman snorted, smirking amusedly at him. "I am surprised you didn't die."

Kongol scowled darkly at her, pointing his ax toward her. "Giganto don't die! Giganto will pay you back!" He swore, stomping off in order to preserve his life and plan his revenge.

They stared after him, wishing they could give chase but knowing that they wouldn't stand a chance all the while.

As they stood and stared, the sound of the door directly behind them being flung open had them turning around quickly.

Out from the depths burst Shana, a mortified look on her pale skinned face, eyes full of tears. "Dart!" She screamed.

Dart smiled instinctively, "You are safe." There was a flash of whit light instantly after and his magnificent armor vanished completely, the intensity of his wounds having him doubled over in agony.

Both Lavitz and Shana jumped toward Dart as his body betrayed his obvious pain. "What happened!" Shana squealed in alarm.

Dart's breaths were getting shorter each time, his body trembling profusely as he muttered weakly, "Seeing Shana's face… makes me relieved…" Then he crumpled on the ground, hitting with a smack.

"Dart!" Shana screamed with unbridled terror as she dropped to her knees next to him. "Dart!"

Lavitz was just as frightened, bending down just the same. "Are you alright!"

And Dart's world went black.

**How was it? Any big mistakes? Did I go too into detail with the Dragoon armor? Don't be afraid to say so, because all I want is to get the story just like it was in the game. So please review! :D**


	8. Lessons Learned

**Here's the next one. I took my pretty little time, didn't I? I hope it's worth the wait.**

It was a few hours after the end of the battle, the city a shell of its former self, as the group sat in the inn which miraculously was still standing. They'd all been tended to, but only Lavitz held onto consciousness. Dart hadn't opened his eyes since he'd collapsed after transforming into the legendary Dragoon and it was really getting to Shana.

Shana sat on the edge of the bed next to Dart's, arms wrapped around herself in self-comfort as she tried her hardest to keep her sorrow below the surface.

Lavitz lay uneasily on his side on the bed farthest from Dart, staring sadly at poor Shana. She looked truly miserable as she sat there. And even though he couldn't see her eyes from this position he was sure there were tears in them.

Rose, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen in the room. She, unlike the other two, had no real attachment to Dart. Sure she had saved him twice for unexplained reasons, but that didn't mean much. In fact, she admitted she barely cared about his fate. If he made it through this then he would have been worth the effort and perhaps good enough to follow around, if not…then he'd be dead. This was why she stood out in the main room, leaning back against a wall while listening in on the room for a sign that Dart was awake.

Another hour passed and he still hadn't moved. Shana was devastated, wiping at her eyes every so often to make sure her tears didn't break free from her eyes. It didn't matter that he was unconscious, she couldn't bear to show weakness which she knew Dart would say that it proved she was still the sister he knew and loved.

Lavitz had had enough of watching her helplessly like this. So even though it still hurt like hell to move he forced himself to sit up and walk over to sit next to her. "Hey." He murmured in false cheer, cringing from the pain throughout his body before forcing himself to smile weakly.

Shana didn't say anything, averting her eyes from him. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him per say. It was more that she didn't want to say something she'd soon regret in a moment of frustrated weakness.

Lavitz frowned. "You ok?" He pressed gently, hoping she'd at least talk to him. It would be a bonus if she actually admitted that she wasn't. Unlike most women she didn't jump on the opportunity to show her vulnerability. The only time he'd seen her do so was after the weird event with the snake. She had cried so much. And he hated it.

"I'm fine." She grumbled unconvincingly, biting her lower lip.

Lavitz rolled his eyes at her, looking around the room to see if he could use anything as a topic to get her to forget for a moment their predicament. Nothing. He sighed. "No you're not." He said quite bluntly.

Shana's eyes caught fire. "I am!" She barked, turning her face so that she was staring straight at him.

Lavitz grimaced lightly at her fiery tone and poorly upheld mask of anger. "Don't lie to me." After he said it he realized how much he sounded like a parent scolding a child and how Shana would loathe it for the insinuation of her being a child.

He was dead right. She grew angrier still. "I'm **fine**!" She snapped, arms trembling at her side in a mixture of irritation and bitter sadness.

Lavitz sighed in a disheartened manner. "Shana…" he said softly, lifting a hand toward her.

"Don't treat me like a child! I'm eighteen!" She shrieked, voice catching in her throat instantly after. And she could no longer bear to look at him, jerking her head to the side and squeezed her eyes tight to insure the tears would stay put.

Lavitz lowered his gaze, frown deepening all the while. "I know." He muttered, scooting closer to her, hands in his lap. "You are a strong woman who is fighting for a just cause. And I don't intend to baby you."

Shana opened her eyes a smidgen, glancing over at him from the corner of her clouded eyes.

Lavitz looked back up at her, swallowing hard. "But being strong doesn't mean you can't be weak sometimes." He laid a hand on her shoulder, feeling it quiver slightly beneath his hand.

"But…" she trailed off, a soft whine escaping her throat.

Lavitz went on. "Actually…being truly strong is having the ability to admit you are weak." He paused, sighing miserably. "It makes you human."

Shana's lip quivered slightly, her body resisting her mind's command for an instant before she couldn't help it and threw herself at Lavitz. She buried her face in his shoulder, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as she sobbed heavily and allowed the tears to finally fall down her face. "I-I'm so sc-scared!" She moaned. "H-He hasn't moved in-in hours a-and…and I don't know if he'll be ok!"

Lavitz was mildly surprised by how suddenly she'd acted and how she'd acted, eyes wide as he grit his teeth in slight physical pain. But when he finally got over the initial shock he decided to wrap his arms loosely around her middle back. "Don't worry." He soothed. "Dart's strong. He'll make it through this."

Shana shook her head faintly in the negative, not expecting to be seen. "B-But…he looks so helpless…" she whined, tightening her grip around Lavitz. "I-I've never seen him this way."

Lavitz brought a hand up to her head, running his fingers through her sleek short hair to try and ease her inner turmoil. "What he went through was just different." He insisted. "It took a lot out of him." A pause. "It'll just take a little longer to recover is all. You'll see." He whispered, head resting on top of hers.

Shana sniffled, sobs softening to a degree at this faith Lavitz had and was infecting her with. "I know…" she finally conceded, sighing sadly as her body continued shaking ever so slightly.

Lavitz sighed with her, hoping he was right. Dart really was awful looking. There was no guarantee.

As Shana regained an even tone she thought to ask Lavitz of his well-being since he'd so willingly went out of his way to take care of her. "What about you?" she whimpered.

Lavitz lifted his head off of hers to look down at her. "Me?" He said blankly.

Shana moved her hand closest over to his bandaged chest, touching it lightly. "Are you really alright?" Her eyes were full of concern as she pondered this.

Lavitz cringed slightly at the touch, but quickly brushed it off, snorting at her. "I'm fine."

Shana didn't believe him, but she no longer had the energy to argue. All she wanted to do was sit here, warm in Lavitz's embrace. Like this she felt important and loved even without Dart. It was a strange feeling, yet it somehow felt right.

"But you should get some rest." He suggested.

Shana mumbled something incoherent, eye lids growing heavier at the mere notion of sleep. This whole day had been one big ball of stress and it was really taking a toll at this point.

For some reason this made Lavitz smile painfully. "Come on." He muttered, lifting her up bridal style in his arms in order to resituate her on the bed and cover her up. He then went to go over to his own bed and sleep as well.

Only as Shana saw him get up she reached out and latched onto his wrist, pleading eyes boring deep into him. "I…don't want to be alone." She admitted, following Lavitz's advice on not pushing her fears down below the surface.

Lavitz opened his mouth to object, reason being that he'd be just over on the other bed, but he couldn't get himself to spit it out. Instead he sighed softly, saying, "Ok." He crawled back on the bed beside her, staying above the covers and keeping his hands to himself. He didn't want to give her the wrong idea.

Shana knew why Lavitz wouldn't want to push it, he wasn't stupid like Dart. He knew how she felt for Dart. But that didn't mean she couldn't initiate it. Besides, she needed this right now, she needed to know that she had someone right there especially with Dart out. So she wiggled over to Lavitz, fitting perfectly into the curve of his body as she nuzzled him lightly and gripped his shirt like a security blanket.

Lavitz sucked in a sharp breath, eyes darting to Dart out of instinct. Oh, right. He moved his arms around her, taking as much comfort in holding her as she did him. Still…he felt a mite bit guilty even if Dart would never know. They were best friends after all. And he'd been taught that loyalty and truthfulness were everything.

Yet neither stopped it. They both lay together as they nodded off and finally fell into a deep sleep. And all this managed to get them through that night without a single nightmare. After all, they had each other.

But what neither knew was that shortly after they'd lost consciousness Dart had a moment where he regained it. He still did not have the strength to get up, so he only rolled his head to the side to look for his friends.

What he saw in his blurred vision he could not make heads or tails of. He was sure it was both Shana and Lavitz, but they seemed awfully close. And was that...did Lavitz have his arm around her? Such a notion made Dart lose his breath for an instant and a sharp pain to hit his stomach in response.

What was going on? This couldn't be right. Lavitz wouldn't make a move on his sister! Would he? All the conflict banging around in his head only made every muscle in his body ache more and a splitting headache strike him.

The longer he struggled to understand the scene before his eyes the farther away he grew from knowing it. His consciousness was slipping in reaction to the immense pain both emotionally and physically, his defense mechanism. And in a matter of thirty seconds he could no longer keep his eyes open.

The confusing image of Shana in Lavitz's arms slipped away from his grasp then as his eyes fell completely shut. However that sight would haunt his dreams every second of this sleep. Fortunately that was all it would ever be to him, an ugly dream. He would never know the truth that slipped right through his fingers. He would remain blind.

**...**

It was around noon now and Shana had been up with Lavitz since about ten. She was still feeling incredibly scared and hurt despite the rest, and the only reason for her sanity was that Lavitz had his arm around her. But it was slowly losing its effect and she knew of only one other way to cure her abysmal emotions other than Dart opening his eyes.

The other woman had settled on the bench in the main room as her place of rest, now awake as well and sitting restlessly on the said bench, tapping her fingers on her crossed arms. This was getting ridiculous. When was he going to get up and over this event? Perhaps she had been wrong. Maybe he wasn't the one…

She shook her head faintly at herself. No…it could not be so. He was the one, she could feel it. He was the rightful owner of the Red-Eye Dragoon Spirit. "Yes…" she whispered, rising to her feet and turning about gracefully to go to the room and check on the situation firsthand. She only hoped she wouldn't get assaulted like she knew any friend would do to her.

Shana sighed softly next to Lavitz, eyes dull and hopeless.

Lavitz sighed with her. "It'll be all right." He swore up and down, rubbing her back methodically.

Shana went to say something to him, freezing mid-thought upon catching sight of the dark haired woman from before. Her eyes grew wide and muscles tensed before she registered this properly and immense hatred filled her. "You." She hissed venomously, mouth set in a snarl and eyes narrowed into thin slits.

Rose didn't say a word, leaning back on the wall like she was so used to doing and looked over at Dart's still unmoving body. Pathetic, absolutely pathetic.

Shana hated how she acted like she wasn't there and hadn't said anything, seething. "What are you to Dart!" she spat, leaning forward to put more umph in it.

Rose looked lazily from Dart to her, having no desire to mingle with her and her angry emotions.

Shana growled loudly, fists clenched and shaking profusely. "What did you do to him!" She snapped with increased anger, tears trying to push their way to the surface again.

Rose scowled lightly at this girl, a tiny frown twitching at the corners of her mouth. "I was only…" She started to reason, trailing off as she took in the deadly look on Shana's face and heard the man's voice cut the both of them off.

"Cut it out!" He snapped, glaring faintly at them. "Both of you." He added, hugging Shana a bit closer so as to say he too blamed this woman more than he did her for all this, mainly considering the squabble.

Rose waved her hand as she defended herself better than previously. "I should be thanked, so why do I have to be yelled at?" She grumbled, frown fully present on her lips now.

It was then that Dart finally stirred, letting out a soft moan.

Shana and Lavitz instantly jumped up from their spot on the bed, going over to Dart's side, Shana with her hands on her heart and Lavitz bent down with hands on his knees.

Despite Shana's immense relief in his consciousness, Lavitz was the first to speak. "Have you come to?" He asked lamely, eyes wide in anticipation.

Dart slowly rose up into a sitting position, his weight supported by his hands pressed down on the surface of the bed. "I-I was…" He started in slight panic, looking about the room like he might find an enemy about to pounce on him. Because the last moment of consciousness he had had he was in the grip of a battle, unsure if it was at its end or not.

Shana sighed contentedly, resting a hand on his shoulder gently. "I'm glad you woke up…"

Once Dart realized where he was his fear declined and heart returned to its natural beat. He then hopped swiftly off of the bed into a standing position next to Shana. Only he had limited interest in her. He was entirely zoned in on the dark haired woman by the door. "You…you are…" He muttered.

Rose's irritated expression faded, a smirk forming. "Rose." She informed, nearly forgetting she had not told him her name as of yet. "Nice to see you again."

Shana's anger flared up again, lessened only by her confusion of these twos relationship. "Do you know Dart?" She growled suspiciously.

Rose flipped her hair back, turning her head to Shana in the process. "I told you." She reminded with a sigh. "I just saved his life." Her smirk grew ever so slightly. "Well...not only once."

Shana didn't believe it, her lip puffed out in defiance. "I want to hear it from Dart's own mouth!" She snapped, staring intensely at Dart and wishing he wouldn't say what this woman had.

Lavitz scratched the back of his neck, frowning in confusion. "You explain." He prompted Dart. "I don't understand." He shrugged.

Dart motioned to her as he spoke. "She saved my life." A pause. "Thanks to Rose, I was able to make it to Seles." The thought made him smile even though she hadn't been the nicest person at the time.

Shana touched a hand to her mouth in realization. "Then, the person who saved you from the dragon was…"

Dart nodded. "Yeah, it's her." He sensed that Shana didn't like the fact, but there was nothing he could do to change the truth. So instead he chose to ignore her irritation and speak to Rose. "Talking about being saved…I didn't even thank you yet." He admitted, chuckling softly.

Rose shook her head in the negative, waving his praise away with a hand. "I don't need any thanks." She looked away toward the ceiling. "I wanted to do it."

Dart frowned lightly at the notion, nodding some. "I see…" He trailed off, picking back up a moment later. "But why are you here?" He said with intrigue. "It is too fishy to be a coincidence."

Rose smirked faintly, taking the jewel dangling on a string around her neck up in her hand to display to him and the other two as well, it glowing a soft white color in her grasp. "I followed you because I was fascinated by this artifact that you own...the Dragoon Spirit of the Red-Eye Dragon."

Dart cocked his head to the side slightly, picking his up to mirror her. Only as he did so both the jewels flashed brighter, color changing to that of their Dragoon armor. Rose's a dark purple and Dart's an orange red. This suddenness surprised Dark, making him jump back a step and cover his face to shield his eyes from the blinding light. "This-This light is!" He stuttered.

Lavitz too jumped back a step, not having expected it.

Shana instinctively lifted both hands up to her mouth to cover it, revealing her shock which was equal to both the boys.

Rose snorted at Dart's reaction, forgetting that she was talking to someone who knew nothing of such ancient artifacts. Of course he would be stunned. "You 'deserve' to rule dragons. This light shows the true evidence." She said simply, elaborating upon seeing his still confused face. "From the time the Dragoon Spirit starts to shine, you have to accept your fate as a Dragoon." She paused, sighing softly. "Just like me."

Dart untensed, mind wandering back to his family who perished long ago. "I didn't know there was such power concealed in my father's memento." He muttered unconsciously, letting his memento back down.

Rose did the same, not moving to speak again.

A thought hit Shana as the silence engulfed them and she just had to ask it. "So, you saved him because you knew it from the beginning?" Her tone was resentful, preparing to respect Rose even less if she were so petty.

Rose shook her head in the negative. "I didn't know it." She assured Shana. But she knew she would hate the next tidbit just as much. "It was a test to see if he could be a Dragoon." She hesitated, quickly going on anyway. "If you couldn't, you would be dead now."

Lavitz had been quiet for the most part, finally getting up the courage to speak. "Why do you know about such things?" He took a small step toward her, moving to pose with his hands on his hips before catching himself and instead motioned toward her. "You know too much about things nobody could know."

Rose shrugged, placing a hand on one hip. "It's better than ignorance, isn't it?" She challenged.

Lavitz nodded, unable to argue with this logic. "That's true." He admitted. "But yours is not mere knowledge. It's a story in a legend that has been lost." He paused, taking a breath. "I heard about it from Minister Noish before. The people who led humans to victory in the Dragon Campaign, they were the Dragoons." Although he'd heard it a million times he'd never stopped to think it could actually be true in today's world. It was supposed to be a legend.

Dart moved his hand at her slightly to get her attention. "But was that the only reason you protected me? Just because I have a Dragoon Spirit?" He almost didn't want to know. From what he'd seen of her so far she wasn't the most caring person. In fact, she could be quite bluntly cold.

She shook her head again. "Honestly, I was surprised myself." She admitted, eyeing the ground as she spoke again, tone bitter. "But now I know why." She walked toward them some, turning away from them to lean back on the bed frame, arms crossed, ready to explain. "You guys look like my dear old friends."

The way each eyed her with interest told her they expected more. And for once she was happy to provide said info.

"They lived in the middle of a turbulent generation, yet they were strong enough to grab their own fate." She smiled at the thought. "They knew the way to go, the things to do, the enemy to defeat and the people to protect." A pause. "I feel the same about you guys, so…" she shrugged. "…I couldn't help doing that."

The three still couldn't find words to say in response. So they remained ever silent.

Rose inwardly laughed at them, standing straight again and turning back to face them. "Now you understand me?" She hoped.

Dart nodded. She didn't need any better reason as far as he was concerned.

Shana wasn't quite as pleased, but she still thought it made decent sense. However there was one thing bugging her. "Can I ask you one thing?" She said in that soft sweet voice of hers.

Rose nodded.

"What are they doing now?"

Rose grimaced lightly, the thought not stinging as bad as it might have in the far past as she shook her head faintly. "Everybody's gone." She answered simply. "It's all in the past."

Shana sucked in a soft breath at this revelation, bringing her hands up to her chest to clasp them together. "I'm sorry." She apologized sadly, shaking her head at herself. "I think I was wrong about you, Rose." She chirped, smiling softly.

Rose snorted, waving her apology away with her hand as she turned away again. "It's okay." She hesitated. "I am used to being hated."

Then there was a sharp voice from outside, grabbing all of their attentions. "Is the head of the Knighthood, Sir Kaiser, in here!" It screamed. "The-The Seventh Fort is under strong attack by Sandoras!"

Lavitz's passionate fury for his country sparked. "What!" He snapped, raising his arm up in front of his face, fist clenched, before rushing out to investigate.

"Lavitz!" Dart called, running to follow after his hasty friend.

"Dart!" Shana squeaked, asking for him to turn back around.

Dart looked over his shoulder. "What, Shana?" He sounded more impatient than he meant to be.

"Your armor..." She murmured, walking over to one of the side tables and picked it up for him. "They fixed it for you while you were out."

Dart smiled warmly at her. "Thanks." He nodded faintly, slipping it back on over himself, feeling ten times better just by having the protective wear on his body again. "Now come on." He insisted.

Shana nodded fervently. "Ok!" She chirped, following him out.

Rose lingered for a minute after they were long gone out of sight, standing to mule over what she was getting herself into. She really didn't need to be around these people. She was fine on her own. Then again…it had been so long since she had had a purpose. She rather liked the idea of having something to do that made a difference.

She shrugged to herself, slowly making her way out of the inn after them. All the while one thought never left her mind. Would this be like before…?

Once outside the three saw the soldier standing weakly before them, talking at a million miles an hour. "The Seventh Fort in the Marshland is under the fierce attack of the dragon! Due to that, the Tenth and Thirteenth Knighthoods are almost overwhelmed! Survivors are still responding!" As he finished he left out a heavy breath, unable to believe he had really spit all that out so quickly.

Rose finally found her way over, having heard the man talking but not really listening. She was only mildly interested with him and his concerns. So as she half-listened she leaned back on the remains of a scorched building, arms crossed.

"Where did it come from!" Lavitz demanded, eager.

The soldier sighed heavily, saying, "From the forest over the Volcano Villude!" Fear was obvious in his tone. "It seems there is a nest there for the dragon!"

Lavitz sucked in a breath, not sure what to make of this. There it had been, all along, and they hadn't known.

The sound of a different set of footsteps had the group turning around to see who they belonged too, Rose the slowest and Lavitz the fastest, especially when he saw it was Kaiser.

Lavitz ran over to him, halting a foot or so before him in an erect position.

Kaiser nodded to the lot of them, chuckling in sarcastic amusement. "Gigantos and dragons..." He shook his head. "It's not a fight between humans. If we don't defeat the dragon, we don't have a future!"

Lavitz did a fist pump, amped and ready to do all it took. "Summon the rest of the knights! We will assault the Dragon's Nest!" He cried with conviction.

Rose snorted. "The Knighthood has the advantage of numbers, but they are only human. Humans can not defeat a dragon." She said matter of factly. "If it continues, Basil will be annihilated." She growled darkly, intending to intimidate.

Lavitz swirled about, angry expression present as he jumped forward toward her. "We don't know until we try!" Lavitz insisted, fist clenched and shaking slightly before his face.

Rose rolled her eyes at him, his natural instinct to put it all on the line so foolishly irking her slightly. "Do you think a wasted death is honorable or something?" She scoffed.

Lavitz opened his mouth to snap back, both fists raised as if he might attack her, sighing bitterly and lowering his head instead as he realized she was right.

Rose pushed herself up off the wall, facing Lavitz straight on. "But Dragoons can defeat him…" She reminded him, surprised at herself for actually wanting to give him hope.

At the mention of these legendary creatures turned real to them every one of them, including Kaiser, brought their gazes to fall on Dart.

"Dart." Rose looked to him. "You should understand this." She walked forward a bit, making motions as she spoke. "We have a different existence. We are beyond Humans."

Lavitz perked instantly. "That's right...Dragoon!" He chirped, broad smile forming on his lips. "Dragoons, which were said to have governed the dragons, can fight against the dragon!" He clapped his hands together. This was perfect!

Dart turned away from them for a moment, walking away a few paces and lowering his head in thought. "Maybe I can do it now…." He muttered to himself, voice strengthening in the words that followed. "I felt the power of the dragon in me." He smiled almost wickedly, turning back to them and doing a fist pump. "I'll do it! I believe in this power!"

Kaiser smiled faintly, nodding as he sighed. "It makes me feel relieved…" He trailed off. "There is nobody left who can fight in the Eighth Knighthood." He looked back to Rose and then to Dart. "Dart, Rose...it seems you are the only people we can count on..." He cringed, gripping his stomach as he went down on one knee.

Lavitz started, lowering down to his level to check on him in mild hurry. "Kaiser. Yo-You...your wound is open!"

Kaiser smiled wanly at his concern. "I am all right." He insisted, rising back to his feet with little noticeable pain. "But Basil is not." He growled. "The Kingdom of Basil is finished unless we defeat the dragon. So...?" He watched wide eyed as to see if they were really up to it.

Dart stepped forward, nodding firmly. "You can trust me. I will fight for you!"

Rose stepped forward as well. "I'll go too." There was a flicker of hesitation before she added more. "It doesn't seem to be enough if it is only Dart and the others." She reasoned more to herself than them.

Kaiser nodded, looking next to Shana. "Shana…you should stay." He slowly brought himself to say.

Shana's mouth fell open instantly, a fear in her brown eyes. "No! I am going!" She cried, shaking her head fervently in the negative. "I can help the other people too!" She assured, hands clasped at her chest.

Dart nodded begrudgingly. As much as he wanted to side with Kaiser he knew that it wasn't what she wanted and she would never give in. Besides, she was stronger now.

Then everyone turned about in unison, jumping slightly, as there came a loud terror inducing cry from the distance. It echoed about them for a good minute before finally dying away.

Rose smirked, an excited fire dancing in her eyes. "The Green Tusked Dragon, Feyrbrand…" She whispered.

Dart grimaced, nodding faintly. "It brings back the fear I felt before."

Rose snorted. "The real fear has not even begun yet." If he was so afraid already, did he really stand a chance…?

Kaiser barely was able to find his voice even after the scream. "Well…I'll leave you to prepare." He forced out, walking off toward the inn to be treated.

Dart only half listened to him, turning to face everyone after a moment. "He's right. We need to prepare. Everyone, go get what you need." He figured it would be quicker if they all went about this on their own. Besides, he wanted to talk to Rose about something and he preferred to not look like an idiot in front of Shana.

Shana and Lavitz nodded, hurrying off together to see what was even available in such a mess of a town.

Just as he suspected Rose didn't move to leave, she settled herself back on the building, arms crossed to think about something.

Dart moved toward her once he was sure Lavitz and Shana were out of sight, opening his mouth to speak when another voice rose high above his own.

"It was super!" A knight exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air enthusiastically.

Dart looked up at them on the stairs, noticing Rose was doing the same as she pretended not to care.

"What about it?" The second knight prompted.

The first gladly elaborated. "That Dart fella, yesterday he wore unique armor and defeated Kongol!"

The second's brows shot up high on his face, an impressed smile on his face. "With Dart, Imperial Sandora is not even a match as our enemy!" He agreed.

The first knight nodded fervently, giddy as all get out. "Yeah! Dart is the messiah of the Kingdom of Basil!"

Rose snorted, tilting her head in Dart's direction. "Messiah, huh?" She tested the word out on her lips, pushing up off the wall to move closer to Dart. "You can not be called a real Dragoon getting stunned like that by bursting with the power." She said matter of factly.

"Then tell me one thing, Rose." He waited for her to look at him dead on. "How do I do it? I mean… transform."

Rose was highly surprised any man would admit he didn't know something, but because he was willing to admit it she would gladly explain. "It takes a lot of practice to do it without fail in any situation." She began, lifting it up into her hand. "It's easiest during battle because you have an immense desire to win or protect something. And that is because it requires strong spiritual strength. Your spirit strengthens itself when you want something bad enough. You can even be an inch from death, body useless, and still do it. All you have to do is believe it's not too late and that you're strong enough to make it. It taps into the power."

Dart listened intently. "I think I understand." He nodded slowly.

Rose went on. "But it is possible to access the power outside of battle as well. It is just extremely difficult is all. Like me for instance, even I have trouble at times doing it and I've had mine for a long time. You just need to have the same feelings as you would in a battle and convince yourself that you need to be able to change." Rose demonstrated then, clutching the jewel tightly in her hand, eyes squeezed tightly shut.

Dart watched in amazement as Rose's body slowly began to glow, a white light surrounding her at first that swiftly changed to an immensely dark shine.

When the glow dissipated she was how she'd been the night before. However this time Dart had a chance to focus on her outfit. Just like before he saw her body shoulder armor piece was like the short dress she wore as a human. Could it be their Dragoon forms mirrored their human ones? Her shoulder pieces were also like his own in the fact they jutted out farther than necessary, ruffled at the top. However he did see that whereas the color of his had been a green blue hers was a pinkish red, the same lines running down over the color as with his.

Her arm pieces were the same color as her suit, dark purple. Her leg armor extended up to the knee, the plating of the knee matching the shoulder color, and the remainder of her leg was covered by a thin light black covering with gold designs on them. Her headband had larger pinkish red jewels set in them, and her chest jewel was the same shade. The only thing she appeared to have that he didn't were those ear guards things that didn't even protect her ears set on her head. This further shaped Dart's opinion that transforming took your appearance and morphed it.

"Amazing…" Dart said unconsciously.

"You don't need to try here." She made sure he realized. "You'll have to wait until our fight with Feyrbrand." She figured that would be their next battle.

He nodded. "Sure. I think I'll be able to do it then." He insisted with life.

Rose scoffed in amusement. "You were chosen. Of course you will be able to." She went to change back, stopping as she thought to say a bit more. "Oh, also for a while even in battle you'll probably have to touch it to transform. It makes it easier; it's why I had to do it now."

"Makes sense." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

She shut her eyes, touching her stone lightly to trigger the event of the shining light and quickly turned back to her normal self. "Is that all you wanted to know?"

Dart almost nodded, thinking back to what had happened the night before and changing his mind. "What about what I did before, 'bursting with power' or whatever?"

Rose figured this question would come up if he had any common sense. "It was a mixture of magic and the first time forced use of the spirit."

Dart cocked his head slightly, frowning deeply. "Magic?" Could all this really exist in this world?

Rose nodded. "Yes, as Dragoons we have a set of magical abilities unique to our spirit type." She paused, pointing at his stone. "You are fire, so your magic is fire based. What you did yesterday was a little bit like the most basic magic you have. Flame shot."

Dart still wasn't sure about this. "So there's more than just that?"

Rose snorted at his ignorance. "Of course. There is an infinite amount of magic; it all just depends on your strength and skill. If you are weaker, like you, then you will only be able to unlock a lower level spell like flame shot. However, as you grow you will eventually tap into the stronger magic."

Dart was slowly getting a grasp of this. He just had one more question. "Since its infinite, does that mean I'll never master them all?"

Rose wanted to be smart and say, 'generally infinite means never ending and when something never ends you're never going to get to the end.' But she decided against it, saying instead, "It's unlikely." She leaned back against the wall again to signal that she was done. "This is what I can teach you." She concluded. "After that, it's up to you."

Dart nodded, finally feeling as if he knew enough to be effective. Now all there was to do was wait for the other two to get back. So he thought he'd look around from where he was. Naturally there was nothing to be seen of this charred landscape other than the woman before him.

He zoned in on her, taking in everything about her like he had the first time he'd met her. She was identical to then. It shouldn't have been a surprise considering it hadn't been too long ago, yet he was still amazed. The only sign that she wasn't perfect was her slightly frizzled hair. What a sight.

Rose didn't like how he was just standing there and more-so how he was staring at her. She growled lightly under her breath, shooting him a dirty look as she spoke up, "What are you doing?"

Dart perked.

"Are you going to go find the others or what? We can't hang around here all day; we have to go destroy the dragon."

Dart swallowed hard, unable to find his voice in the moment. So he nodded instead. He then quickly ran off, heading straight for where he figured they'd be, in the weapon shop.

"How about this one?" Shana asked Lavitz, turning about and posing in a fighting position with a bow she'd found.

Lavitz chuckled in amusement. "Just like with all the others, it looks fine." He assured her. "I mean, I'm no bow expert."

Shana scowled playfully. "You could at least try to be helpful." She grumbled, putting it back.

"Aw, come on. I didn't say you couldn't buy it." He half whined.

Shana shoved her nose into the air, arms crossed over her chest. "Humph!"

"How about this one then?" He tried to get her to stop this even though it was obvious she was only playing. "Huh?" He picked one that looked particularly nice and expensive out to show her.

Shana peeked out of the corner of her eye, instantly spinning around enthusiastically at the sight of it. Oooooh!" She squealed, clapping her hands. "It's so pretty!"

Lavitz smirked. He was so good. "I think this one would suit you." He pretended to know what he was talking about. "Here, try it out."

Shana swiftly snatched it from Lavitz, spinning around with it before striking an offensive pose, giggling all the while. "It's so light!"

Lavitz grinned broadly, hands on both his sides in a pose of his own. "You should get that one." He recommended.

Shana smiled sweetly at him, lowering her bow down to her side. "This is fun." She admitted. "Especially with you." She added without second guessing it.

Lavitz started slightly, quickly recovering. "Yeah, I've always liked looking for weapons." He instinctively went to rubbing the back of his neck, always doing so when nervous to any degree.

"I wonder how much it is though." She scrutinized it, deep frown forming as she did so.

The store keeper finally came in. "It's our finest." She assured, grinning widely. "A hundred dollars."

Shana sucked in a breath. "A hundred?" She whined, sighing sadly. "There's no way we can afford it."

"Sure we can." Lavitz insisted. "Dart probably has enough money." He then quickly added, "And if he doesn't…I could always buy it for you."

Shana lit up instantly. "Really!" She exclaimed, jumping with joy. "Oh, thank you!" She threw herself at Lavitz, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

Lavitz tried not to feel anything as she hugged him, but he couldn't help himself. He found himself blushing lightly and moving his hands around her waist despite himself. "It's nothing." He chuckled, wondering what made now any different from the day before when she'd been crying on him. Was it because he had made her happy just now and before she had been in pieces?

The door swung open then and Shana was quick to release Lavitz, turning about to see if it was Dart. "Dart!" She cried, running over to him. "I'm going to get a new bow!" She informed him with exuberance.

Dart blinked a couple of times. "You have money?"

Shana's face grew red. "No!" She cried.

"Then how the heck are you gonna do that? Are they giving crappy ones away or something? Or are you turning into a thief?" He hoped the former was true.

Shana groaned loudly. "No! No! And NO!" She screamed, stamping a foot.

"Oh! Are you saying I'm going to buy it for you?" Sure, why not? It wasn't like he planned on getting anything new. He was perfectly fine with his old stuff. Maybe later he'd bother with new things, but not now.

Shana huffed. "I was hoping for that, yeah. But even if **you** won't, Lavitz **will**." She turned away from him, keeping an eye on his reaction out of the corner of her eye.

Lavitz chuckled at her behavior under his breath. There she went again, trying to use him to make Dart jealous. Didn't she see that it wasn't working all that well?

Dart wasn't sure what to say to this. "Lavitz…really?" he murmured.

Lavitz shrugged. "Why not?"

"Aren't you going to buy yourself something?" He questioned, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Lavitz smiled nervously. "I was…" he admitted, rubbing his neck again. "But…I figured that if she wanted something then…I don't know…" He swallowed hard. "…I could get it."

Dart was impressed by how he was so willing to sacrifice his own weapon development for her. In fact…could he like her? Dart frowned at the prospect, almost feeling jealous at the notion. He quickly pushed the feeling away as he reminded himself she was his sister and that's what she'd always be.

Dart waved his hands in an x. "Don't worry about it." He laughed lightly, digging for money. "I'll get it. She's my sister after all."

Despite the fact he'd called her his sister, Shana grinned broadly. She saw that it bothered him a little, letting Lavitz take care of her. It was a step in the right direction at least.

Lavitz snickered, thoughts similar to Shana's running through his head. Maybe her jealousy inducers weren't so pointless after all.

Dart then walked up to the counter. "How much is it?"

"A hundred." She repeated.

Dart cringed at the high price. "Ok." He laid the money out on the counter. "I'll take it."

Lavitz went over to where the spears were, fingering through them before coming to one that seemed good. He pulled it out, ran his fingers over it, and twirled it about some before making a final decision. "I'll take this too." He informed the owner. "But I'll pay separately." He assured Dart.

The owner took the money gladly, nodding appreciatively to the whole lot of them. "Come again."

"Don't count on it." Dart grumbled under his breath as he turned to walk out. "Extortionist."

She frowned. "What?" She growled.

Lavitz had heard, covering for him. "He said he doubts it because we don't plan on coming back this way." He smiled brightly to complete the look of innocence.

She smiled again, believing it mostly because it had a word of misgiving in it. "Well, that's alright then." She waved them off.

"Come on guys." Dart half ordered. "Rose is waiting for us."

Lavitz snorted. "And God knows she probably doesn't have much patience."

Shana laughed lightly at this, still not caring for the woman.

Dart, on the other hand, scowled at Lavitz for the comment. He didn't know her. How was he supposed to know how she acted and reacted to anything? It just wasn't right. "Let's go."

The trio left at an even pace, not too fast, not too slow, to reach Rose a couple of minutes later. Dart made sure he was in front and got the first word in considering the other two would probably say something mean. "I got them."

Rose looked lazily over at them, pushing herself up off the wall slowly. "Good." She muttered, thinking to add, "And remember, once we leave the town I will consider you a mature Dragoon. I won't teach you how to fight anymore." She eyed him expectantly, brows raised as he went to answer.

Dart frowned lightly, thinking on it for a split second before answering. "Okay, I'll be all right." He nodded firmly, smile working its way back on his face.

Rose smirked; impressed by how much confidence he had in his abilities after such a short time of having even known he was capable of being a Dragoon. "Ok." She nodded, moving herself to the front by Dart out of instinct. She didn't find the back to suit her; it made her feel like she was a weakling who was choosing to be the last to join in on a battle. From the front she was able to see better as well. She didn't care if the other two didn't like being pushed back. And besides, it wasn't like she was trying to steal Dart away.

Shana felt her blood boil as she watched this woman take what could have been her place by Dart. Who did she think she was! She just got here! She had no right! Shana growled lightly. Boy was she going to get it if she even thought of getting too close to him!

Lavitz sensed her anger and quickly moved to calm her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Easy, Shana." He chuckled. "Rose doesn't think like that." He insisted, explaining his theory. "See how she has her arms crossed?"

Shana did, nodding.

"It shows that she's trying to keep people out. So she doesn't like mingling with most people in general, especially not that way." He waited hopefully for her response.

Shana sighed, frown lessoning in intensity. "Fine." She grumbled. "But I still don't like it."

Lavitz smirked; surprised at the way his own mind was working. "You could always hold my hand to try and make him jealous." Lavitz suggested, shrugging in indifference.

Shana stared blankly at him for a moment, giggling softly at him after a time. "Sure." She agreed, slipping her hand into his. How funny. It seemed as if Lavitz actually liked her a bit more than she thought previously. So maybe this was a sign she shouldn't use him to garner Dart's attention since it wasn't real what she pretended to feel. But…maybe she wasn't pretending all that much anymore…

**I'm sure by now, if you hadn't already, you see what one of my favorite couples is. In games you can only do so much with character interactions, and DartxShana and DartxRose were basically the only relationships given much focus. I, however, can do much more. I hope you enjoy what I do with them.**


	9. Virage Awakening

**Time for Volcano Villude! Hope you enjoy! :)**

Dart hadn't known it, but it turns out that the marshlands came before the volcano. So when he walked into them he was slightly confused and uncertain of his sense of direction. He was then forced to stop, scratching his head as an outward sign of his uncertainty.

"Um…" He murmured inaudibly, taking in the surroundings all the while. At this point at the entrance he could see that there was only one path, a straight shot to who knows where. The path was mostly muddy dirt with small patches of grass here and there. Starting a few feet ahead the path was surrounded by clusters of large trees the size of a giant and boulders with moss on the surface.

He looked over to his right and saw that there was a wide river running down the length of the marshlands from which a strange misshapen tree came out of. Honestly Dart was amazed it was standing the way it had many thin, twisted branches as the core. Oh! As he looked farther down the way he saw that the 'tree' was connected to the bottom of another normal tree across the river. That's when he realized that it was actually a large group of roots. Amazing.

"Dart?" Lavitz spoke up.

Dart broke out of his trance, snapping his head back around to his friend. "What?"

"Are we going?" He pondered, watching Dart expectantly.

Dart laughed nervously, rubbing his arm. "Yeah, of course." He chuckled, looking back forward.

Lavitz sighed, amusement showing in his face. "You have no clue where you're going do you?"

Dart grinned to himself. "I do not."

Lavitz went to offer his assistance, having passed through here a few times himself, when Rose beat him to it. She blocked him from Dart's view too! "I'll navigate then." She said simply. "I've traveled all over, so I know my way around." She explained.

Dart shrugged, not even thinking of Lavitz. "Sure, why not?" He turned about to face the other two. "What do you guys think?"

Shana noticed Lavitz was slightly irked by her taking what would have been his time to shine, but she didn't say anything. She just shrugged back at Dart.

Lavitz didn't look at him or answer. He didn't want to be the one to go against what Dart, their official leader, obviously wanted.

"Ok." Rose flipped her hair out of her face with a hand as she directed. "It's across the river."

Dart stared blankly at her. "What do you mean?"

Rose rolled her eyes at his denseness. "The roots of the tree over there." She informed, pointing. "That one connects with the ground over here and is thick enough to walk on. So we'll walk across it." She stepped in front of Dart over to the start of the bridge. "Unless of course you want to swim." She shrugged, unaffected by her own half joke.

Shana giggled at the thought, imaging Dart swimming up against the current. As long as he wasn't hurt it would definitely be funny.

"Heh…" Dart snorted. "No thanks. It just seems odd."

Rose shrugged, mouth a flat line. "It's the only way. A nature created wonder if you will."

Lavitz piped up. "Yeah." He walked up beside Dart, leaving Shana behind. "No man could ever imitate it with anything they build."

Rose sighed. "Alright, let's go." She waved her hand forward, hopping up along the twisted root because she was more accustomed to passing something with changing elevation this way.

Dart watched her, frown forming. What a strange woman. He then followed after her, walking like most normal human beings would do. Still, he did find it impressive how she managed to get through so quick.

"Come on, Shana." Lavitz remembered to make sure she was coming before going tentatively over the roots. The only good thing about this was that it was unlikely to fall given the thickness of the footing.

Shana followed slowly behind because she both figured Lavitz wouldn't be going very fast and she wanted to pout some. She wished she knew as much as Rose. If only she had traveled more.

As Dart reached the end he saw that the root widened largely and connected with the bottom of the enormous tree which was oddly lifted off of the ground which formed an arch beneath with the other thick root which reached the opposite direction into another branch of the river. There was a smaller root that branched off the uppermost part of the zone where a root could stem, leading right a bit before twirling back down to the ground.

Dart didn't bother going all the way around on the small root, he simply jumped down of the raised root to the muddy ground, grunting softly as he rose up to stand again. "That was different." He mumbled.

Rose looked up at him from where she stood leaning on a section of the root not submerged in the murky depths of the river. "That's nothing compared to a volcano." She scoffed. "Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself in to?" She raised a brow at him, expression vague as always.

Dart shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not." He looked back to see where the other two were before looking to her again and going on. "But either way, I'm going to do this. I will destroy the dragon and even the odds for Basil." He finished with a firm nod.

A smirk twitched at the corners of Rose's mouth at his extreme dedication in what would seem to be hopeless odds to most people. It was an admirable quality, one similar to one of her old friends. He had been her closest too.

"Come on Lavitz! Go a little faster!" Shana barked, pushing him up the main root of the tree to the small one that connected with the ground.

Lavitz had his teeth grit tight, eyes wide in apparent fear as he walked carefully around the last curve to the ground. "D-Don't rush me!"

Shana rolled her eyes, pushing him just hard enough to scare him a bit and, in his fear, have him fall on his knees to insure he didn't hit water.

"W-What the hell!" He snapped, head turned about to glare at her. "What are you trying to do!"

Shana forced a laugh back down her throat, unable to hide the laugh from her smile. She shrugged. "I wanted down." She then moved over to his front, offering her hand to him. "Here…I'll help you up."

Lavitz continued to glare at her, sighing softly as he took her hand despite himself and allowed her to pull him up to his feet.

Rose didn't wait another moment for them; she pushed off her post and readied herself to lead. "Come on. It's not much farther, this marsh is small." She did a turnabout and headed through the arch, expecting all of them to follow.

They went in two rows, Rose at the front and the other three in the back with Shana between the two. She didn't hold onto either though, she just kept smiling to herself.

They walked in a straight path for a mile or so, a few curves coming after at the last section of the marsh. The exit was just in view.

Dart saw that the river ended here, a bowl shape created. Another one of those odd tree formations was out in the middle of it, moss covering the spider looking tree sporadically. "Finally." He sighed to himself. "Now we can get on to the real obstacle."

Rose snorted lightly at him. He was asking to die with that headstrong personality. Cool.

Then there was a sudden high pitched screech, Shana stumbling some, falling behind a foot or so, before regaining her balance.

Everyone turned about to see what had garnered such a reaction. But only Dart spoke, concern dripping from his voice. "What's wrong, Shana?"

Shana struggled to hide the grimace, set precariously on one foot. "I'm f-fine." She stuttered. "My foot was stuck in the mud, that's all." She spun around energetically, jumping up and down on both feet and throwing her arms in the air. "See!" Instantly she felt a sharp pain, yelping lightly as she collapsed to her knees on the ground. "Oh no…" She murmured sadly, feeling so pathetic in that moment.

Lavitz sucked in a breath as she fell, meaning to move toward her, but unable to.

Dart rushed over to her, wide eyed. "Did you twist your ankle?" He asked anxiously.

Shana shook her head faintly, scowling at herself while making sure to look anywhere but at him. "It's nothing..." she grumbled.

Dart smiled softly at her, kneeling down next to her to look more closely at her leg. "You can't stand up, can you?" As he looked the fear of it being something serious faded.

Shana's frown deepened, her hating having to admit it was so even though Lavitz had told her weakness wasn't something to resent. It was just so hard to believe.

Dart turned about so that his back was toward her as he remained bent down on the ground. "Come on, I'll give you a piggy back ride." He suggested with hands prepared behind him.

Shana whined lightly at the notion. "But…it's embarrassing." She moaned.

Dart stared blankly at her over his shoulder. "What are you talking about? I used to give you piggy back rides when you were little all the time, remember?" He hoped so. It was one of his more precious memories involving her.

Shana sighed softly, admitting defeat. Besides, she couldn't deny she'd enjoy the contact. It didn't matter that he was being brotherly in his act. It was good all the same. "Uh huh." She nodded, moving herself as best she could over to him. "Thanks!"

Dart lifted her up in his strong arms, holding her up by keeping his hands wrapped around both her legs.

Shana sat contentedly, hands resting on his shoulders all the while. It was a minute after they started off that she thought to speak, tone bitter. "I'm such trouble aren't I?"

Dart smiled painfully. "I don't think so."

Shana sighed sadly, still not happy even though she had wanted to hear something like this from him for so long. "I guess...I should've stayed in Hoax?" It sounded more like a question than a statement even though she hadn't intended for it to. She wanted to know what he thought of the idea.

Dart started, stopping for a moment. "Are you serious?"

"No, it's not so..." She admitted, smiling faintly as she leaned her head down on his shoulder and slid her hands down to connect at his chest. "I guess I had a bit of a weak moment..."

Dart didn't say anything to this, waiting for her to add more like he knew she would.

"You know what?" She exclaimed, brighter. "I have more confidence now." She raised back up off him, hands on his shoulders again. "I can fight to help everybody." She nodded firmly. "I'm not a drag on others! But…I still can not fight like Rose." She breathed.

Dart shook his head at her, hating when she compared herself to anyone. So this time he said something. "Shana, you have something only you can do, right?" He half asked, using it mostly as a way to boost her confidence and give himself a better opening to make a point. "You don't need to pretend to be strong."

Shana sucked in a soft breath at his choice of words. It was so much like what Lavitz had told her, so close it was almost scary. Maybe they were both right, maybe she should stop doing this to herself.

"Besides…" he started, smiling broadly, a new kind of light in his eyes. "You can rely on me more. Like in the old days..." He sighed contentedly at the thought, loving the idea of things being as they were before. It was so much simpler before.

They, Lavitz and Rose, were at the end of the marsh. They looked back at the slower pair as they worked their way up to them.

Lavitz, caring sincerely about Shana and her welfare, called out. "Dart! Is Shana all right!" He was deeply worried.

"I'm okay now!" She cried back, feeling so much better in both body and mind.

Dart set her down as they caught up to the other two, allowing her to do as she pleased.

Shana shot forward into a run, spinning about on both feet to prove that she truly was alright. She wasn't lying anymore. "The pain is gone." She assured, smile growing wider with every moment that passed.

Lavitz nodded, worry dissipating. "That's good."

Rose didn't respond despite her slight pleasure at Shana's recovery. She just couldn't put the feeling on her face or into words. It wasn't her fault.

"Well!" She shouted with glee, spinning around one final time to stretch out her ankle before running off ahead. "Let's go everybody!"

Dart was surprised at how hasty Shana was being, running off without a guarantee of them following right behind. "Shana!" He cried, jolting forward to chase after her.

Lavitz was right behind Dart, not wanting to get left behind. After all, this was his war more than anyone's. There was no way he wasn't going to do this.

"Tch." Rose flipped her hair out of her face by shaking her head, looking after Lavitz a moment before setting off at a breakneck pace after them. How strange they all were, especially Shana and Dart. She couldn't quite figure them and their relationship out. To Dart it seemed he was convinced it was a brother and sister thing, but Shana wasn't so obvious. She seemed to sway between his same line of thinking and wanting more from him.

Not that it was any of her business. She was just here to offer her assistance and perhaps watch as they grew in strength. They were so much like her friends before. In a way, they made her feel at home, in a perfect position when among them. It was a nice feeling, something she wouldn't be against experiencing for an extended period of time. So…yeah…she'd hang around. Just as long as they wanted her, she'd be right there.

The area up to the volcano had quickly shifted from the muddy grass of the marsh to a dusty ash like material. It was, in a sense, suffocating. But it was nothing compared to when they actually got up to the volcano terrain.

The footing reminded Dart of the cave he'd passed through to get to Bale, but it wasn't the same. Here it was much rockier and had many breaks in it which made it look highly unsafe. Not only that but there were large jumps and piles of hardened rocks set at random places on the trail.

Set off farther back in the distance a variation of rock formations and their silhouettes could be seen through the smoggy ever orange sky. Some of the forms, not as easily seen and mostly distinguishable by the smoke billowing up, were almost certainly smaller volcanoes. Because, despite the name Volcano Villude, it was not just one volcano. There was just one large one.

"I've never been on a volcano." Shana muttered timidly, going to Dart and automatically wrapping her arms around his upper arm.

Dart smiled at her. "Don't worry." He assured her. "I'll protect you."

"Come on." Rose pushed, hopping across a small gap in the curved path to a lone pedestal and then over the next gap to land on a longer stretch of rocky terrain.

The other three followed swiftly, wanting to get out of this place more than they'd ever verbalize.

As they started off again a large quake shook the earth beneath them, making each of them, even Rose, stumble a bit. They were forced to crouch on the ground to insure that they didn't fall off the slim road.

"What's that!" Dart cried, arm wrapped tightly about Shana's body so that there was a zero percent chance of her falling.

Lavitz thought he'd try and guess the origin as he rose back to his feet. "Is that an eruption of the volcano!"

The others followed his lead in standing, Rose being the only one able to answer Lavitz's half question without a lick of doubt in her. "No, it's not." There was a hint of concern in her tone. "That is...Fire Bird."

They all turned to look out in the distance, the center of the volcano, as Rose pointed morbidly.

And there flew an enormous bird made of nothing but pure fire. He was spewing fire from his mouth down onto other creatures of the volcano.

Rose shook her head some. "It's bad timing, showing up now." She paused, frown forming. "We still have to deal with the dragon."

Dart turned to her, eyes wide, and hands up in a shrug motion. "Can we just let it go?"

Rose gazed at him in amusement, shrugging before looking back at the fiery creature. "It's up to him." She said simply.

The Fire Bird then let out a high pitched squawk, zooming toward them with an anger in his eyes and heart.

Dart started, spinning around to give the command despite the fact he was not the official leader at this moment. For once he didn't care. "He saw us! Run!"

Each sprinted at top speed down the path, heading deeper into the heart of the volcano. Their hearts beat wildly in their chests all the while, Rose more flustered than she'd like to be.

They ran until they'd left the open area into a section where high rocky, ash covered walls surrounded them and the path narrowed. There were thick stalactites and stalagmites around the inner edges of the path, some connecting with each other and acting as a sort of support beam.

But mostly Dart stared down into the gapping inner hole that the path swerved around as he doubled over. It was full of red hot molten lava that sifted about below in a slow soothing motion. "God…" he heaved.

Shana looked back behind them worriedly, breathing heavily like everyone else, "It seems we lost him." She sighed happily, looking solely at Dart afterward.

Dart raised back up, hands off his knees. "Good. Let's move on then."

They all nodded, Rose hopping to the front of them for the umpteenth time. "Yes."

As they went on the path grew even smaller than before, barely enough for a single person. Not only that, but there were sections of the rocky footing on the opposite wall of them which didn't seem to really go anywhere, just kind of were there to be there. So they mostly ignored the second dead end path and continued on up the river of lava until they made it to a forked path.

Dart started to take the right one, stopping only as Rose lifted her arm to block him. "Not that one." She murmured. "It leads to a few jumps and a dead end." It was as simple as that.

Dart was amazed at how much she knew. Could it really be that she had traveled all over Serdio in the past? Hm. Dart nodded toward her to show he understood.

"This way." She said unnecessarily considering there was only one other path remaining to be taken.

Things were open again, making Dart sigh unconsciously. However this section was highly layered. Stacks of jutting out rocks which were supported by pillars of the same material as the rocks went up higher than Dart could see. The same went for the similar structure off in the foreground.

Then all four went in single file to jump across the small gap in the jutting rock to the one opposite of it, entering a cave of the sorts.

Lava was much closer to them in this room, no clear path to an exit visible. It was almost like in the cave with the stepping stones, only the footing sticking up out of the lava was all that more important to land on and not slip. "Shana." Dart peeked over his shoulder at her. "Stay with me."

Shana inwardly sighed at Dart's brotherly concern, complying nonetheless. "Uh huh." She nodded fervently. Hands clasped at her waist.

Rose jumped up on the first upward reaching plank that was nearly even with their more elevated walk, moving swiftly down the slope and then jumping onto a patch of solidified lava meant for one. She then looked back at the rest of them. They were tiptoeing their way down the first part. "Hurry it up."

Each held on to the one ahead of them, Shana clutching Dart's shoulders for dear life, and Lavitz's hands glued onto Shana's waist. They were like a train, a very slow unproductive train.

Rose rolled her eyes, hopping on to the next, slightly larger, piece of land and then taking a sharp turn to jump on another about the same size. "And you know you can't do that after the first rock. Don't you?" She asked flipping her hand about.

Shana swallowed hard. "Y-Yeah…she's right." She admitted shakily, letting go of Dart and shrinking back a bit.

Dart tilted his head back a bit to see her. She was just as petrified as he and Lavitz were. He sighed. "I know." He then leapt with uncertainty to the single person space and to the next one with speed he did not realize he had.

Shana went to jump, scrambling back as she nearly slipped. "I-I can't do it…" She whispered, clinging onto Lavitz for dear life.

Lavitz bit his lip nervously. "I…can carry you…" He offered with immense tentativeness. He honestly wasn't sure if he trusted himself with her. Lava was like water after all, only you didn't have the chance to drown. You just burned to death. So if he screwed up it would all be over.

Shana shook her head fervently, thinking all the same things as him. "No…no. I-I'll try." She decided, turning back around and closing her eyes tight before she jumped.

Rose jumped over to the other upward reaching, long rock, mostly twiddling her thumbs as she waited. She found it hard to believe any of them had ever traveled anywhere.

Shana opened her eyes as she jumped again, stumbling forward a bit upon landing. Dart was there to catch her though, so it was alright.

Dart held her in his arms for a minute as Lavitz made it to the single person standing point. Once he was ready to move on he had to release her in order to continue.

Rose was now at a checkpoint sort of place. It was a section of ground large enough to hold them all. So she thought she might stay here until they managed to catch all the way up. She didn't need to get too far ahead and have them end up lost or falling into the lava.

It took them another ten minutes or so of fear and slow moving jumps but they all finally made it to the point Rose was impatiently waiting for them at. As they did so the three sighed, cheeks red from the heat and breathing heavy from the gripping fear and also the heat.

Rose flipped her head to get her hair back in place. "Come on. Don't give up on me now." She'd said this countless times to her other friends, her being the leader and all, so it slid off her tongue so naturally.

Dart nodded. "Sure, just keep on. We'll be right behind you." His words showed how tired he was, each coming between heavy breaths.

"Yeah." Shana agreed, wiping her forehead to rid it of any sweat that had accumulated.

Rose snorted, finding it hard to believe they could even attempt to keep up with her regular pace. Nevertheless she pretended to agree, going much slower and watching them much more carefully.

She hopped onto a wider slanted rock, glancing over to the exit which was so close at this point. She almost believed she could jump from here. But she couldn't chance it. One inch too short and she'd be in hot water, literally. So she went the way that was a guarantee for them all to make it. She jumped over to a flat stretch and then to a medium sized circle landing that was just big enough for them all she thought.

Shana went first this time by Dart's request, slowly hopping over to where Rose stood and waited for the other two.

As the other two made their way over Shana's expression went blank and she felt a weird sensation flow through her body. She sucked in a soft breath, falling to her knees on the ground and wrapped her arms about herself as she shook some. "What...is this feeling?" She murmured almost mechanically, smiling strangely.

Rose stared at her, brows furrowed and arms crossed as Shana spoke nonsense. But she did nothing. She didn't know her well enough to. She simply looked over to Dart who was now racing over to them.

Shana chuckled sadly. "It's…calling me!" She exclaimed in realization, shooting to her feet and jolting out of place over to the footing connected to a doorway so she could rush through it out of sight.

Dart started, "Shana!" He cried after her, reaching out uselessly. "Where are you going!" He then swiftly gave chase, afraid of what might happen.

Lavitz was not far behind, stopping only to prompt Rose. "Are you coming!" Then he was gone.

Rose stood there for a time, staring after in their direction. "How strange." She muttered, moving on the way they had at a slower pace.

Shana stood stone still at the edge of a pit of lava in the room. She stared blankly down at what looked like a statue in the pool of lava.

Dart was by her now, pulling her back away from the lava into a tight embrace. "Don't run off like that." He whispered in her ear.

"I'm…sorry." She murmured apologetically. "I couldn't help it…" She admitted in shame.

Dart frowned at this, looking to where she was at the pieces of a creepy stone. There were two. One was a large hand half their size which rested on part of the footing, the 'skin' looking really rough and wrinkled while the five sharp, pointed fingernails appeared smooth. The other piece was farther to the center of the lava. It had half of a star like shape showing with tiny circles similar to that of the ones on their Dragoon armor positioned inside the star. Fine lines came up from the star and wrapped around the backside of the head. And it had two pointed ears with a couple of thinner lines branching downward off of it. "You were 'being called' by this?" He said in disbelief. It was just stone.

Shana nuzzled her head into the crook of Dart's neck. "I don't know. But when I came here, I didn't hear the voice anymore."

Lavitz entered then, crossing his arms over his chest as he took in the appearance as well.

Dart let go of her, stepping to the side of her to better scrutinize it. "Is that alive?"

Lavitz chose to answer for once while Rose wasn't around. "Looks like a stone statue." He shrugged, stepping closer to see if there was something he was missing.

Dart did the same, going to the hand to reach out and get a feel of the statue.

"NO!" Shana screamed at them both, flailing her arms. "Don't go near it!"

Dart turned his head to look at her in confusion over his shoulder. "What?"

Rose meandered in then, eyes widening slightly upon catching sight of the statue. Still her mouth remained a flat line all the while.

Shana shook her head sadly back and forth. "I don't know." She whined. But…I feel...something's wrong." She started to bite on her nails, begging the boys with her eyes to get away from it.

Rose's expression transformed into a glare then as she walked forward a space to stare intently at the boys. "Listen to Shana." She ordered. "This Virage is still alive."

Dart cocked his head the same as Lavitz did. They also said in unison, "Virage...?"

Rose's uncertain hate toward the statue remained planted on her face as she scoffed, "You don't know about it?"

All three shook their heads.

She snorted. "Okay, I'll explain it to you." She said with a shrug, feeling pleased at being appreciated for her knowledge. It'd been a while since she'd been seen as useful for that particular skill. "You know about the Dragon Campaign, right?" It was a rhetorical question. "The Winglies were outnumbered, so they used this creature called Virage as their trump card in the war." She paused to see if they followed. "Just as humans used dragons, Winglies used Virage." It was as simple as that.

Shana's brow furrowed at this before she thought to ask timidly. "I thought the Dragon Campaign was over eleven thousand years ago." She glanced back to the pieces of the creature. "How can this still be alive?" Despite the unlikeliness of it still living Shana still found herself gripped by an unshakable fear. Yes…she could feel it. The creature's heartbeat, it was there. Rose was right, it was as alive as any of them.

The fingers then wiggled suddenly, startling Dart into jumping away and swirling about to stare wide eyed at it. "What the-"

Rose remained unusually at ease at the creature's movement, simply drawing her thin, light blade from its sheath as a sign she was paying attention. "I would say it's due to the hatred of Humans, or a vendetta against us Dragoons." She said thoughtfully, smirking faintly. "We gotta settle this!" She braced herself for the attack as the ground began to shake violently.

Dart shook his head fervently, waving his hands in an x. "Or let's run!" He more ordered than suggested, grabbing onto Shana's wrist as he went to sprint for the doorway.

"It's too late!" Rose yelled as the Virage slammed its hand down in front of the exit.

Dart jolted backwards with Shana, an angered growl escaping his throat. "Shana, get back!"

Shana ran to the far end of the area, drawing her bow out to take aim.

A bright light shone then, blinding them all for a moment as the Virage made the ground quake and it thrust itself up out of the magma.

The once stone creature had been given flesh. But it was not complete.

Rose snorted conceitedly. "It's damaged." It was missing both legs as well as an arm. "Piece of pie." And she jumped forward

The Virage shrieked, focusing its gaze on Rose as she sprinted toward him. The longer it stared the brighter the light in the star shaped place on its face became until he let it lose, a blue laser zooming toward her.

Rose easily dodged it, jumping gracefully aside before doing a front flip and slashing her blade across the Virage's body.

The Virage didn't react at all, simply raising his hand up to bring down on her.

Rose swiftly tumbled out of the way, hitting at his green body again.

Shana had been prepping to fire at the creature and so as Rose continued to unknowingly distract the beast from her she shot an arrow at its head.

The Virage saw the arrow with its many eyes within the star section and easily flicked the arrow away with its one hand.

"Aw…" Shana whined, slumping.

Dart was next. He charged at the creature as he was swinging at Rose, smug smirk slipping as he saw it did nothing.

"What the hell!" Lavitz cried as he got the same result. "Nothing works! It's like it's still made of stone or something!"

Rose was struck with an idea at this. "Of course." She smiled darkly, focusing solely on having the strength to kill this thing. And she started to float an inch off the ground, her body glowing a bright purple as it changed.

Dart stopped in mid-step as he watched her change. It captivated him as much as the first time. He only wondered if it hurt as much as his first transformation.

The Virage smacked at Dart as he stood motionless.

Rose finished just in time to zoom to him and snatch him off of the ground before the Virage made impact. "Pay attention!" She snapped, dropping him from the air to do a U-turn back towards the monster.

Dart grunted lightly on impact, annoyed to find he was back far from the monster.

Shana decided she'd try again, this time more carefully. She lined it up perfectly with the Virage's eye, hands shaking only slightly. "I can do it…" She muttered, releasing it.

Rose swept in to drive her blade deep in the Virage's eye, something she couldn't reach before. But as she closed in, her eye caught sight of a projectile heading her way.

Rose started, jerking backward out of her charge so that the arrow narrowly missed her.

Unfortunately the arrow also missed its mark, giving the Virage the perfect opportunity to smack Rose down out of the air like a fly due to her being suddenly off kilter.

And it was a direct hit.

"Rose!" Dart and Lavitz screamed, jumping up to help her if they could.

Rose let out a stifled cry as the Virage's massive hand put increasing pressure on her body, making her feel as if her bones were liable to snap right then and there. So she took an even tighter hold on her weapon, angling it up before thrusting it straight through his hand.

The Virage let out an earsplitting scream, a multicolored light bursting forth from the injury wound.

The boys stopped short as the light exploded forth, Rose soon following.

Rose had her eyes closed, hands clasped at her chest as she ascended. Her body then started glowing with purifying light.

The Virage was angry now, turning to its laser beam again to disintegrate her.

"Rose! Look out!" Lavitz called, aiming to get the Virage's attention by stabbing his lowered hand with his spear.

Before any of that could happen, Shana shot another arrow, this one hitting dead center of her target.

The Virage's beam was halted instantly, the most tender place on its body being penetrated causing his body to suffer a jolt.

"Yes!" Shana jumped in the air.

The Virage's green jewel eyes became tainted from the shock, color turning a dark black as he zoned in on the girl responsible for the tremors now continuously rocking his body.

Shana sucked in a sharp breath as she saw his sinister eyes on her. But she was too scared to move.

The Virage screeched a morbid cry, dark eyes filling with red light this time with much more intensity as it stared her down.

"Shana! Move!" Dart screamed, sprinting for her.

Shana cowered pitifully, squeezing her eyes shut tight in unbridled terror. "Dart!"

Dart didn't have to think about it, the only thing he needed was his immense desire to save his sister and the stone around his neck caught fire, surrounding his whole body in the same flame as he transformed effortlessly.

And the sharp sound of the laser being released pierced the air.

Dart shot like a bullet through the air, throwing his body around Shana just as the laser reached her, engulfing them in red.

Lavitz sucked in a sharp breath, dropping his spear simultaneously.

Rose cringed as impact was made, feeling the burn Dart felt due to the connection of being Dragoons.

As the light dissipated an even more charred landscape was revealed, but both Dart and Shana remained unharmed, a red barrier of flames surrounding them as they turned about.

Rose was impressed. Not only had he transformed without touching his stone, he'd also tapped into the barrier that activated in rare instances.

The Virage was confused, mind overwhelmed by the bad odds. He couldn't move.

Rose took the opportunity to dig her blade clear through his arm and slice it off.

The sudden flow of blood sent it into overload. It spit out random sounds that would normally have called its comrades to its side, its star section of eyes glowing a bright yellow.

Rose started, shooting at lightning speed over to Lavitz and clamped her hands over his ears. "Dart!" She shouted. "Cover her ears!"

Dart didn't stop to ask why, he just did it.

Then the scenery started to blur together, the colors altering from blue, to red, then yellow, and so on. It was like they were seeing the world move as a wave.

Dart's head pounded, a quake snaking its way through his whole body and a lightheaded feeling possessing him. "R-Rose…" he forced himself to say.

"Don't let go!" She ordered, feeling a mite bit dizzy herself as she stood her ground. "As a Dragoon you can't be affected by status ailments like poison. But they can!" She knew the mention of Shana's wellbeing would do it.

The strange sights soon evaporated, vision and body feeling back to normal.

"Now kill it!" She snapped at Dart, pointing her blade at the monsters many eyes.

Dart let go of Shana as he flew through the air on wings of fluid grace, sword raised like a jousters to run him through.

Without arms or legs the creature was a sitting duck, an animal backed into a corner. And with limited brain capacity all he thought to do was charge his laser.

By that point Dart was on, stabbing him straight through his cluster of eyes, feeling a squishy feeling of what he perceived to be his heart.

The Virage let out a strangled cry, feeling his footing slip beneath him and strength being sapped as his heart slowed.

Dart went to stab him again, his body glowing and armor and wings disappearing on him.

Rose wasn't surprised. It took a lot to remain in Dragoon form for extended periods. "Hit him again!" She pretended to ignore his change.

Dart shook his head to rid himself of the shock, making one last hit with his sword to knock the fearsome beat back off the land into the lava from which he'd come.

And this time he better not come back.

As he sunk he slapped what remained of his limb down hard on the scalding lava, creating a small wave which splashed up against the solid land, nearly reaching Lavitz who foolishly stood close to the edge. "Woah!" he cried, raising his arm up to shield himself. "It's dangerous! Let's go back!" He insisted, swiftly turning about and heading to Shana.

Shana now sat on her knees in the center of the room, arms wrapped around herself as she shook faintly.

Dart hurried over to Shana upon hearing Lavitz command, kneeling down next to her to lay a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Shana." He helped her up by her arm, her finding it hard to stand on her own two feet at the moment as that voice from before echoed a pained cry around in her head.

Lavitz too went to take her arm to support her. "Are you alright?" He asked in soft sincerity.

Only Rose, now in her human form, remained close to the edge now, watching the boys aid Shana for an instant before jerking her head back forward to stare intently at the slowly sinking Virage. She had to make sure it died. It would be disastrous if it managed to pull itself back up somehow.

The Virage did the same to her. It watched her with its many eyes all the way until the point its eyes sunk down below the molten lava and it no longer had a chance in the world of survival.

"Rose!" Dart called to her, perplexed by her unmoving position.

Lavitz moved away from Shana as he was sure he was no longer needed, focusing instead on Rose as she kept planted to the spot by the edge.

Shana too watched Rose as she moved slightly closer to Dart, wrapping her arms about his arm in the process.

"Rose!" Dart said more sharply. "Get back!"

Rose stared a moment more before doing a graceful turnabout, long silk hair flying out behind her as she did so. It was like her own little cape.

They then left the way they came, Rose once again at the lead, Lavitz behind her for a change, and Dart holding up Shana in the rear.

They went back to the burnt patch of land they'd been on before, hopping across the magma onto the last, largest stretch of blackened ground which miraculously led to the outside.

Now they were far in the foreground, standing on the jutting out rock formations that they had spotted from the other side of the cave before they'd entered. This was a good sign. They were probably only a little bit away now.

As they prepared to jump to the other jutting out rock a sharp voice cut them short. "Heeey! Is anybody there!" It cried out helplessly.

Dart scratched his head, chuckling. "Did you hear something?" He made sure to double-check. For all he knew this was all an illusion created by the immense heat.

"Heeey! Heeelp!" The voice came again, this time much more desperate.

Shana sucked in a sharp breath. "Look, over there!" She yelled, pointing over across the jump to a man who appeared to be in dire need.

A man in a multicolored hat, identical shirt, blue over shirt, and purple pants was hanging off the edge by a branch and struggling profusely, hands flailing.

Dart's eyes widened. "It's a man!" He cried in shock, quickly jumping across to help.

The man continued to flail. "Help me!" He begged. "My foot slipped and I fell!"

Dart nodded firmly. "We got you!" He assured him, bending down to take hold of him by his shoulders.

Shana followed suit, pushing past Lavitz and Rose to reach Dart and take hold of his waist to pull back too.

Together Shana and Dart were able dislodge his shirt from the branch and get him safely up on solid ground.

As they finished Rose and Lavitz meandered across the gap to stand with the other two.

After the effort exerted on Shana's part she found herself doubling over in exhaustion. She just wasn't cut out for this stuff. "Man…" She sighed, hands on her knees.

The man leapt to his feet, heaving in relief. "Phew! Thanks! Really! I didn't think I would make it!" He speedily replied, shaking his hands about as he talked.

"It was really…" Shana huffed and puffed for a moment, her tiredness interrupting her speech. "…nothing."

"Well, thanks anyway!" He said enthusiastically. "I can't thank you enough!" He scratched his chin thoughtfully then, perking as an idea hit him. "But please at least take this!" He drew a sapphire pin from his pocket.

Shana's eyes grew wide, hand at her chest in surprise. "Oh don't! We can't accept such an expensive item." She shook her head in the negative, waving him away.

"Yes, you have to!" He insisted. "You folks saved my life! I'll feel bad if you folks don't take it!"

Dart chuckled softly. "Take it." He said with a shrug. "Once decided, it's hard to take it back." He laughed as he connected the trait with himself. "It's a man thing." He explained simply.

Shana blushed lightly, holding her hand out. "Well, thank you." She muttered, accepting it.

"No problem." He chuckled, slapping the pin in her hand. "I'm Dabas of Lohan." He informed them. "I was told I could find a 'Burning Gem' around here, so I came."

Shana nodded, putting the pin on her shirt.

"And look what happened to me!" He burst out laughing, clutching his sides. "By the way…" he sounded calmer now. "I am an antique dealer." He explained. "If you happen to be in Lohan, why don't ya drop by?"

Shana nodded fervently, the others not so sure about this.

"Well, later!" He called over his shoulder, waving excitedly.

And then he was gone.

Shana giggled softly, hand up at her mouth. "He's funny." She said toward Dart, looking over at him as he stared in the direction Dabas had left in with a perturbed look on his face. "Yeah…"

Lavitz and Rose shared the same opinion as Dart, not quite sure of this strange man. "Whatever." Rose shrugged. "We need to go."

Rose took the lead, heading downward in the same direction as Dabas went.

As they went down the slope they found themselves in a circular room, no 'roof', just high reaching walls surrounding the curved jagged edged path. "Only a little longer." Rose muttered to no one in particular, picking up the pace a bit.

Everyone else nodded, going faster as well so as not to fall behind. "Come on, Shana." Dart whispered in her ear, holding on to her hand to insure she didn't fall behind for whatever reason. She did have a tendency to after all.

As they took the curved path with the gaping hole in the center they tried not to look to often down into the depths. But Lavitz did a couple of times, a shiver running up his spine.

Shana was the only one that noticed. "It's alright, Lavitz." She soothed. "Keep your eyes on Rose's head and you'll be fine." She half laughed.

Lavitz smiled back at her, nodding. "Ok."

Rose's eyes shot back to look at them with a slight glare, making sure she heard what they were talking about concerning her. She didn't like not knowing when she was being spoken of.

There were a couple of gaps in the ground that they made sure to jump over before the area opened up considerably. From what Dart saw there was no magma, just steam and smoke billowing up from the drops. But, then again, it was a volcano, so there was probably some lava down lower. They just couldn't see it.

On this section of fallen pillars of rock and ash covered ground which sloped downward they saw Dabas again. He was looking around the ground for who knows what. But this time they didn't speak to him. They promptly moved past him, continuing on down the long rock trail for another hour or so before they finally managed to escape the smoggy, strangling atmosphere of the volcano. They even started to see live grass again.

Shana breathed heavily, bending over with her hands on her knees. "Thank God."

Lavitz chuckled at her, finding her relief amusing in its own little way.

Rose, naturally, didn't see what there was to be happy about. She focused on what still had to be done. "Don't say your prayers just yet." She scolded. "We still have the dragon to deal with. Only then can we breathe easy."

Dart shook his head, rolling his eyes at her realist point of view. Not that it was necessarily a bad quality. It kind of balanced out with Shana and her optimism. Quite a change. Yet he still found himself talking back to her. "Aw, come on Rose." He nudged her gently in the side. "You can show a little enthusiasm." He chortled.

Rose's gaze shot over to him at the contact, a fire lighting within them due to her unfamiliarity with being touched at all by a person. It had been too long. Still she managed to calm herself, frowning. "There's no point to it." She said simply, looking away from him again. "Besides, I don't believe in false hope." She instantly picked up her pace, not wanting to have anymore said to her.

Dart frowned deeply, pausing in his tracks as he watched her go on.

The other two stopped one either side of him. "She's something isn't she?" Lavitz muttered, arms crossed over his chest as he shook his head slowly.

"That's one way of putting it." Shana scoffed, glaring at the back of Rose's head with all her might.

"Leave her alone." Dart aimed mostly at Shana, only displaying a bit of annoyance in his tone. "She's just more of a loner, that's all." He shrugged, starting off again.

The other two quickly did the same, all three struggling to catch up with the fast moving woman.

"But she'll get better." Dart promised with a smile. "All it takes is time."

**So, how was it? Like the character interactions? Don't? It's not my favorite chapter, but I still like it. Any chapter with Rose in it is good. Anyway, please review! :D**


	10. Nest of the Dragon

**Here's the next one. I hope you like it! :)**

The forest they had to go through next reminded Dart to a great degree of the marsh they passed through the day before. It had a dismal feel to it, the sunlight barely seeping through the clusters branches full of leaves high above them. It was almost like it was still in the dead of night. The forms of the trees didn't help either. They were bent over as if they wanted to smash those who dared tread on their land, moss grew wild on every inch of the bark, and the lower leaves drooped like they were dead, except they retained their green color. It was strange.

The eerie sounds echoing about them didn't help either. The wind sounded more like a whisper of ill words, the wolves howling like a scream of dying, the crows cry like a sinister laugh, and any twitch of movement from a creature on the ground made a sickening slush due to the wet grass.

Already Dart wanted out.

Rose glanced back at him from the corner of her eye, slowing some. "Too spooky for you?" She said quite blatantly, her hair swaying gently in the slight breeze.

Dart shook his head after a moment, still in a bit of a daze. "No…it's just…" he trailed off.

Rose shrugged her shoulders, focusing back ahead. "This forest isn't much to be scared of." She assured him.

Lavitz stepped forward, adding on, "And it's not particularly long either." A pause. "I have been through a couple of times myself in the past." He watched Rose and her expression carefully as he spoke, hoping to get some sort of approval or submission. He didn't know why, but he needed it before he took the lead. Truthfully…he was kind of scared of Rose.

Rose didn't react in the slightest. "I myself haven't been through here before." She admitted shamelessly. "I never needed to."

Dart wasn't sure if this was her way of submitting to him leading this time, but he jumped on the opportunity. "Then it'll be the same as if I lead." He said with a smile. "So I'll go first." He pointed at himself.

Rose growled lightly at the idea of not being the frontrunner by even a margin of an inch. Still, she didn't want to seem like any more of a stuck-up know-it-all than she knew she had already come off as, so she just shrugged, stepping begrudgingly back.

Dart's smile broadened as she allowed him this and he took her spot at the front. "Alright!" He cried to the others, clenching his fist tight before him. "Let's go get that dragon!"

Lavitz and Shana cheered along with him, pumped to go and do this already with hopefully no more distractions awaiting them beforehand.

Rose, however, stood off from them, still not wanting to be a part of the group when it came to such pointless things. All she wanted was to do what they talked about doing. She didn't get the appeal of yapping about it when they could be taking action. But she wouldn't say so. She'd let them do their thing. She was the extra appendage after all.

"Follow close." Dart reminded Shana, allowing her to walk beside him if she so wished.

Shana's face brightened immensely, her jumping at such an opportunity. "Ok!" She chirped, zipping over to his side without a second thought.

Lavitz smiled at seeing her so happy, choosing to walk directly behind her.

Rose was, as much as she hated it, last. It made a chill run up her spine which she was glad no one saw. That would have just made it worse.

As they walked deeper into the forest Rose sensed that something wasn't quite right. The hair on her skin stood on end, nape of her neck sweating slightly. The bad feeling only increased as odd spore like objects started to appear in the air.

It was around that time, about a mile down the path, that Shana started coughing a bit. Her throat was irritating her.

Dart perked. "Shana? Are you ok?" He asked instinctively, needlessly concerned.

Shana nodded, scratching at the outside of her throat continuously. "Uh-huh." She uttered in a strained voice.

Rose had moved up in line with them now, unable to handle the back, and was staring with raised brows at Shana.

Shana noticed her dark eyes on her and shrank some. What had she done?

"Are you sure?" Dart pressed, eyes wide.

Shana didn't speak this time, simply nodding.

Rose went to say something to the delicate woman, instead using her energy to swat away a group of spores which had floated to the front of her face. How bothersome.

Lavitz was having quite a time with the spores too. He was swatting madly at them and the never would disperse. It was like they were attracted to him!

Rose snorted as she watched him from the corner of her eye, drawing her blade as she turned about to face him. "Stop." She commanded, not waiting to know he heard.

Lavitz snapped to attention, freezing. "Huh?"

Rose glowered at the spores, raising her blade up and coming down hard on all of the ones clustered together just inches from Lavitz face.

The spores lost their green glow instantly, shriveling up before floating down to the ground.

Lavitz jumped a mile as she struck mere inches from him, heart beating fast in his chest. "W-What was **that **for!" He spat, clutching his chest.

Dart and Shana had twisted around the instant they heard a sword hit the ground, equally shocked at what they saw.

Rose flipped her hair back into place. "Humph." She put her blade back in place on her side, turning back forward as if nothing had happened.

"Excuse me!" Lavitz barked, anger filling him.

Rose glanced back at him in indifference. "They were bothering you, weren't they?" She muttered coolly.

Lavitz's brow furrowed at her words.

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "So I got rid of them." She said with a wave of her hand. "I figured you'd appreciate it." She growled almost bitterly.

"Oh…" Lavitz muttered to himself. "You mean those green things?"

"Spores." Rose corrected him. "They're spores." And she started walking again, deeming this conversation over.

"So…she was helping…?" Lavitz whispered blankly.

Dart shrugged. "At least she's trying." He too walked on. "Now let's go."

Shana lingered with Lavitz. "Dart's right…" She said weakly. "It was her way…of helping."

Lavitz frowned deeply at her and the sound of her voice. "Are you really ok?" He questioned skeptically. "Your voice sounds sort of-"

"I'm. Fine." She sounded hoarse now.

Lavitz threw his hands up in defeat. "I was just asking." He held out his hand. "We have to hurry. They're getting ahead."

Shana thoughtlessly grabbed ahold of it, running to insure that they would catch up in a couple of minutes.

Dart noticed then that they were behind. "Rose." He muttered. "Wait a minute."

Rose didn't make a sound, knowing how his worry drove him. He proved that perfectly when fighting the Virage. She simply settled herself against one of the two trees bordering a trail leading out of the forest, crossing her arms as she waited with him.

Dart was surprised she complied so easily, taking it as another sign that she was slowly but surely falling into line with them. Or perhaps it was only because it was him. Maybe she was able to sense his feelings because they were both Dragoons.

"Thanks for waiting." Lavitz smiled, not only speaking to Dart, but Rose as well for once. Maybe Dart was right about her. Her methods were strange when compared to theirs, but she meant well and would gradually fall into line.

Rose ignored his thanks, not even bothering to wave it away this time.

"We need to keep going." Dart stated the obvious, preparing to go again.

It was as Dart decided to move on that Rose finally made up her mind about what had been bothering her for quite a while now. "Guys?" She growled, eyes glued to the air thick with spores.

They stopped, looking back to her.

Rose rose to a full standing position, waving her hand in a circular motion to indicate the atmosphere. "Don't you feel something?" She quizzed them.

Now that she mentioned it the air was thick with these damned spores and not only that, there was something wrong here. Dart couldn't tell what, all he knew was it wasn't right.

Lavitz felt the same. This was no normal forest.

Shana was barely listening. She was wrapped up with herself, arms about herself tightly as she shivered slightly.

Rose knew they agreed by the looks on their faces, so she went on. "This forest is contaminated by the dragon's poison."

That was it! "I see." Lavitz murmured thoughtfully, hand cupping his chin. "That's why the Sandoras don't have a defense in this forest. A normal person can not be exposed to this 'poison' for a long time."

Dart nodded in agreement. "It's a natural defense."

"Oh my!" Shana yelped, feeling as if the breath had been knocked out of her, hands shooting to her face to hide her emotions, the more prominent being pain.

"What's wrong!" Dart panicked, rushing closer to her.

Shana shook her head, doubling over to breath heavily, hands trembling on her knees. "I-I felt a little bit dizzy…that's all." She wheezed.

Lavitz frowned, crossing his arms as he came to a conclusion. "I guess it is hard for a woman."

Rose's eyes caught fire as she narrowed her eyes at Lavitz. "Oh?" She said in slight irritation. "I am a woman too." She reminded him.

Lavitz scratched his head as he fixed his words. "You are special."

Rose raised a brow, frown slipping at this. "'Special', huh?" She smirked. "Fine." She shrugged. "I don't capitalize on a woman's frailty anyway."

Shana shakily stood back up, shaking her head and waving her hands in an x as she spoke softly, "I don't mean to do...oh no." she moaned the last bit as she collapsed to her knees.

Dart dropped down next to her, touching her shoulder gently as his way of asking of her well-being.

Lavitz was tempted to do the same, forcing himself to resist.

Shana tried to stand again, this time much more successfully. "I'm okay." She said with a bit more strength. "See?" She spun around to show this, facing Rose as she halted. "Rose is fine too!" She pointed out, forcing a pained smile.

They all watched her carefully, not sure they could rely on her words.

"But, I..." She clasped her hands on her chest, squeezing them together hard as if this pain might distract her from the other, more severe one. "…I'm sorry! I need to go rest a little." She moaned, flying off down the trail they stood in front of.

Dart's eyes widened. "Shana!" He called after her, sprinting down the path to catch her.

Lavitz reacted a little slower, surprised by Shana's hurry to get away. But in a minute he was headed down the same road, only slower. "Coming?" He asked over his shoulder to Rose as he noticed she wasn't moving.

Rose pushed herself off the tree, turning to face him. Yeah." She muttered, strolling along with him to find where the two runaways were at now.

Farther down the path Shana sat crumpled on the ground beneath a warped tree the shape of a spider. Her arms were wrapped around herself as they often were when she was scared or sad. her eyes more dilated, and her breathing was still not quite as it should be. But she could feel the cleanliness of this new, more open area. There were no spores.

Shana!" Dart cried, dropping down next to her, concern mingled with fear written all over his face. "Are you all right?"

Shana didn't answer for a few minutes, focused on her breathing. Once that was finally under control she nodded slowly. "Uh-huh…"

Dart sighed in relief, hugging her gently.

No matter how much she liked his attention she felt so guilty making him worry. "Don't worry." She smiled faintly, standing up on her own with surprising ease. "I don't feel sick anymore!"

Dart smiled bright at this, rising up to stand next to her. There wasn't anything he loved more than seeing her well.

"Besides…" She looked up at the sky, holding her arms out some. "I think I got used to the air in this place." She said with a firm nod.

It was about that time that Rose and Lavitz arrived. "Is she alright?" Lavitz asked Dart, eyes wide in concern.

Dart nodded, smile telling all.

Rose hoped they didn't expect her to join in on the checking on her game. She didn't play such a thing. She was much more intrigued by the strange plant set a few feet down the trail from them.

It was about their size, a man-eating flower. Not that it actually did that. But with its change in size she couldn't really be sure of much. All that was certain was that it was shaped like a bulb, had a stem a foot long, and was colored red on the head and gray all over the rest. She also knew it had once been a small innocent flower.

"Then can you go with us?" Rose hear Dart say, not entirely sure what led up to the question but not figuring it mattered all too much.

Shana walked forward a step, breathing in a sweet deep breath, before turning back to Dart with a soft smile on her lips. "Sure." She nodded. "If I fall down here, there would be no meaning to me coming with you." She said matter of factly.

Lavitz concurred. "Indeed." He cupped his chin in his hand, changing topics abruptly. "We can say the war is in our hands, because the Kaisers can't make a move."

Dart frowned at him, ignoring him to scold Shana in a loving manner. "Shana... please don't leave us like that." He pleaded, eyes sad as he thought about it. "We don't know what awaits us."

Shana lowered her head some to show how she felt. "Sorry."

"Now let's continue." Dart ordered them, only looking at Shana and her sweet face as he offered his arm for her to hold on to.

Shana gladly wrapped her arms about him, leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked back down the way they'd come. Neither even thought to make sure Rose and Lavitz were following.

Rose and Lavitz stared after them for a moment, Lavitz frowning as he felt a spike of jealousy at the attention Dart was getting from her. It didn't matter that he obviously was doing it as a 'lean on me since your hurt' brother kind of way. Lavitz was still perturbed.

Rose snapped him out of his daze, commenting on the pair's behavior. A perplexed frown was on her lips as she did so. "They are playing brother and sister."

Lavitz nodded, mind remembering himself. "Yup, they are always like that." He chuckled.

"Odd." Rose murmured beneath her breath.

"I was surprised too." He said with a shrug before beckoning her on.

"Hmm…" She murmured.

Farther along the trail the path became narrower, a river snaking its way from an unknown source through this part of the forest to split the forest floor in two. But it was extremely murky, tainted with poison.

Shana sighed sadly, bending down to look closer at the running water. "Even the water is ruined."

Dart peeked over her shoulder, taking one look at the water and solemnly agreeing.

Rose found her reaction quite stupid, but for some reason she couldn't tell her this. "It proves how powerful the poison is, along with the dragon." She paused to toss her hair back. "That's why we have to end this." She hissed.

Shana stood back up, staring dejectedly at Rose. She was so headstrong. She was constantly ready and willing to fight and kill. It made Shana queasy just imagining all the countless creatures she'd slaughtered in the past. Shana could never do such a thing. It wasn't in her.

"Rose is right." Dart said with a firm nod. "This has gone on long enough! Countless people have died already and I won't let anyone else suffer like that!" He clenched his fists tightly, fire burning in his eyes.

Rose smirked faintly at Dart. "And from the looks of it we're not far." She observed, looking past them all at the slowly changing route. "Look." She pointed.

Webs littered the road in patches; some plastered over the river, others at the roots of trees, but most stuck at different angles on the ground.

Lavitz sucked in a breath. This was surely a change from the last time he'd been here.

Dart walked forward a bit to bend down to touch one of the webs. He was surprised to find there was no stickiness left to it. "They're old." He concluded. "Probably from a rampage of the beast a while back." He stood back up to face them.

Rose raised a brow in interest. "How do you figure?" She, of course, knew the answer. She simply wondered if he had figured it out the same way.

"They aren't sticky anymore."

Rose smirked. "Ah…" she feigned a degree of surprise. "Of course."

"But, either way, like you said, it should be nearby."

Rose nodded. "Yes. So we should move quickly." She was swift to jump to the front, wanting to have that feeling of control sweep through her once more.

Shana clasped her hands down at her waist, moving her foot in circles. "So…is it going to be a few minutes or what?" Shana whispered distractedly. She didn't like how the longer they walked the more webs there were.

Dart sensed her unease. "Something like that." She didn't need for him to worry about her all the time. She could deal with this on her own.

Shana grinned falsely, sucking in a sharp breath as she felt a web rub up against her skin. And this one was sticky too! "Eew…" She hissed, wiping fervently at her arm.

Dart then felt his foot slip through a web, foot catching in the small hole and caused him to fall flat on his face.

Lavitz burst out laughing. "HA! Way to keep on your feet!"

Dart scowled up at him, pushing himself up off the ground as he bit back sarcastically, "Yeah, ha, ha. Hilarious. Would you like a go?" He motioned to the hole with a hand as he wiped himself off with the other.

Lavitz was still laughing as he said, "And what's with the new garb? Sticky the new in?"

"Yeah, the ladies dig it. Didn't you know?" He mocked right back.

Rose stared in disbelief at the two men who were managing to make a squabble out of this. What was worse was they weren't even being serious. "Do they always do this?" Rose asked in exasperation.

Shana giggled softly. "Yeah. They're like brothers." She sighed at the pleasing thought. "It's funny, don't you think?"

Rose stared at Shana as if she were stupid. "I suppose." She looked back to the two who were now wrestling around on the ground, snapping, "Hey!"

Both froze instantly, Dart's arms wrapped tightly around Lavitz's neck while Lavitz had a hold of Dart's legs, mouth open an inch from his arm in mid-bite.

"As fun as it is watching you two act like children we do have a job to do." She reminded with obvious irritation. "So cut it out!"

Dart and Lavitz promptly scrambled to their feet, wiping their clothes in a futile effort to get all the stickiness from the webs off.

"Now come on." Rose sighed.

"She's just no fun, is she?" Lavitz hissed at Dart, shaking his head back and forth.

Rose growled lightly at the comment, jamming her foot back into his knee to shut him up.

Lavitz yelped, stumbling back as he clutched at his knee in agony.

Dart was back with him to check on it. "I'm…uh…sure she didn't mean it." Dart mumbled unconvincingly as he came to the conclusion that Lavitz was perfectly fine.

"Didn't mean it my butt." Lavitz growled, grumbling incoherent curses beneath his breath as they swiftly took their place behind the two girls.

Dart rolled his eyes at him. "Just be glad she didn't stab you."

Lavitz chuckled at this. "Yeah…I suppose I should be."

Shana was twiddling her thumbs now as they walked, trying to get up the courage to ask Rose something else. But it was hard considering she'd just hurt Lavitz for saying the wrong thing. "…Um…Rose…?" She started.

Rose took her eyes from ahead of her to glance at Shana, her eyes strangely gentle in that moment. "What?"

"So…what kind of nest will the dragon have…? I mean, like a cocoon or a bunch of trees, or-" And then she felt the ground beneath her give way some. "Um…"

Rose's eyes shot to what they were now standing on. A flimsy web. "Damn it."

And their footing snapped.

Shana was the first to let out a terror filled scream, grabbing out for anything to hang onto to halt her descent. Dart and Lavitz's cries came next as they caught sight of the ground. And Rose merely let loose an aggravated groan.

All but Rose smacked the ground around the same time, each of their heads snapping back on impact, a soft grunt passing their lips.

Rose managed to land effortlessly on her hands and then flipped back to her feet with just as much ease. She wiped her hands together in smug victory. "That wasn't so bad." She scoffed, noticing the other three sprawled out on the ground and sighing irritably, "I can't believe this."

Rose knelt down next to Dart, the closest, turning him over onto his front before shaking him by his shoulders. "Hey! Wake up!"

Dart groaned lightly, eyes slowly fluttering open to reveal a foreign landscape. "Where…where are we…?" He muttered, rubbing his head to soothe the ache as he sat up dizzily.

Rose looked up to see if she could see how far they'd fallen. It was useless. She couldn't see any sign of light whatsoever. "In the dragon's nest." She sounded ominous as the words passed her lips.

"What?" Dart said weakly, still out of it.

Rose shook her head, leaning back against a climbing pillar of the sorts. "Wake the others up."

Dart nodded faintly, crawling to Lavitz to shake him lightly. "C'mon. Lavitz, get up."

Lavitz mumbled something as he sat up. "What…uh, ow!" He gripped his head as a searing pain hit him. "It hurts."

"Yeah." Dart nodded. "That's what happens when you fall down into a secret underground lair."

Lavitz then remembered what had happened before he blacked out, shooting up to his feet in alarm. "What about Shana!" He looked about frantically.

The same worry hit Dart then as he fully grasped the circumstances. "Shana!" He yelled.

Lavitz jumped over to where she lay, cradling her in his arms. "Shana." He said repeatedly.

"Relax." Rose scoffed. "She's just knocked out."

"Then what do we do while we wait?" Dart asked curiously.

Rose shrugged. "Take in your surroundings." She slide down the upward spiraling object she leaned on until she was sitting on the ground. "I, on the other hand, am taking a rest."

Dart stared blankly at her. Really? He didn't peg Rose as the type to lay down to rest when they were so close to their goal. It was different back out at the outskirts of the volcano when it was dark. But now they were so close. It was odd.

Lavitz hugged Shana closer, head resting on hers. He wasn't listening to them anymore. He was zoned in on monitoring Shana and hoping she'd wake up soon. After all, they had no way of knowing if the dragon would come to them or not.

Dart was worried about Shana but since Lavitz was watching over her he found it more profitable to do as Rose had said. He needed to get a feel of the place. So he'd start with what was visible as of yet.

Where they were now was in no way similar to a forest in any sense. There was very little room to roam, the paths single person. Not only that but the texture was very rough, ridges the common pattern and the color a blue green. There was not only one path either, higher up there were two other curved paths leading to the bones of what looked to be a mixture of people and animals.

Dart swallowed hard. He refused to have it end that way. As he shook the fear away he saw that each path had its own twisted stone hard stalk leading up to another level he could not see. There were also openings with a purple glow in random places. He almost wanted to go see what lied within, only he feared it would just lead to more corpses or something worse.

The last thing he spied was a foot or so in front of them. It was a pool of water that looked unusually clear to his eyes. Had it been spared the cursed poison?

A sharp roar echoed through the entity of the cave then, making a shiver run down Dart's spine. It was even more ferocious so close.

Lavitz didn't know if it was the roar that did it, but Shana suddenly started to stir, eyes fluttering open to reveal a place she couldn't remember coming to.

Dart perked at the movement, getting closer to her. "Good, you've come around." He sighed.

Shana sat up, rubbing her neck gently. "Yes, I think…I'm fine." She murmured weakly.

"Where are we anyway?" Lavitz grumbled, neck and head still bothering him to a degree

Rose stood back up after the shortest rest in her life, stretching some. "In the nest of the dragon." She then answered simply.

Dart smirked. "Well, at least we don't need to look for Feyrbrand anymore." He told mostly Lavitz.

Rose raised a brow at Dart's never fading spunk, saying casually, "What confidence you have." She walked forward a step, staring intently down at him. "Is that because you are a Dragoon?"

Dart shrugged, mouth a flat line. "I guess." He then stood back up, dusting himself off.

As Shana rose to stand by him the pool of water at their feet caught her eye. She lost interest in anything they were talking about or about to talk about and instead focused on the water. She turned about curiously, bending back down on her knees at the water's edge to lightly touch her hand to it. It was cool to the touch, an almost purifying feel to it. "Ah…"

Rose looked past the boys at Shana. "What are you doing?"

Shana cupped her hands and scooped the water up into them, lowering her lips to take a refreshing drink. And it was perfect. It was heaven to her tongue. "Guys, look at this!" She called to them, motioning toward the pool. "There is still pure water left in this forest."

Dart lifted his head some to see over Lavitz. "Cool." He bent down next to her to also get a little sip.

Shana beamed. "At least the entire forest is not spoiled." She grinned broadly.

They all nodded, even Rose mildly pleased at this fact. Despite her cold demeanor she did have feelings and cared about nature.

Dart stood back up, offering his hand to help Shana up. "Let's go." He smiled sweetly at her as his next words formed. "If we defeat the monster, the forest will be saved."

Shana's grin widened. "Yay."

"Up the stalk." Rose nodded toward the spiraling rock formation, scaling the length of it in a matter of seconds instantly after the words passed her lips.

Dart's brows raised high on his head at the sight. She was like a monkey in a tree or something. He swore she must have been a God of some sort. She had so many abilities that he'd never seen in just one person. It was quite impressive. "Well!" He chirped after snapping out of it. "What are we waiting for? Follow her!"

Dart went up with much less skill than Rose had, slipping every so often due to his clumsy nature.

Lavitz started to go after him, stopping as he thought of Shana. "Why don't you go next?" He suggested.

Shana eyed him suspiciously, hands on hips. "Why?"

Lavitz frowned at her. "What do you mean, 'why'?" He used his fingers as quotation marks. "I want to be sure you don't fall is all."

Shana brightened back up. "Oh…that's sweet." She sighed, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Don't lag!" She said over her shoulder as she mounted the stalk.

Lavitz stared blankly, mouth hanging open slightly, shocked by her action. "O-Ok…" he breathed, smiling stupidly as he hurried to follow after her.

It took them longer than Rose or any of them would have liked, but once they made it they saw that light was filtering into the area farther ahead. This meant that the way up was just beyond them and no doubt the dragon as well!

The scenery before their eyes now was little different from the lower section. The flooring was that same ridged looking material, only grayer, there were seaweed like substances swaying gently on the sides of the path, objects akin to mushrooms also sitting sparsely around the paths, and those damned spores were floating around in the atmosphere up here.

But most strange of all was the purple solidified flowers that surrounded the top of the stalk. It glowed eerily, a rather spooky formation. But it wasn't just that one. There were about four or five set on the many different paths twisting around in the section. They were connected to a stalk just as this one was.

Another roar cut through the air, making the ground itself tremble faintly.

Rose drew her blade instinctively. "It's in there." She hissed, indicating the room with the hints of light spilling forth.

Dart nodded. "Yeah." He too drew his sword in preparation. "Shana-"

"NO!" She stopped him short. "We've been over this a million times! I **won't** stay back!" She shouted, fists clenched tight as she leaned forward into his face.

Dart sighed. "I know…" He had just kind of been hoping she would listen like she had back when they were kids. No matter how ridiculous it sounded then, she'd obey. Too bad now was the only time it counted.

"Then what are we waiting for!" Lavitz cried, jerking his spear out and twirled it professionally back and forth in both hands.

"Nothing!" Rose said sharply, the first to charge down the path into the final room.

But there was no dragon. Just a mess of a room that had them halted in confusion.

The room was littered with piles of balled up webs with mold, mushrooms, and poisonous dying flowers scattered over every inch. Even some of the once beautiful plants of darkness had been destroyed by the thick webs draped over them. However the one good use for the icky webbing was that it laced the back rocky wall, allowing the perfect way to climb out of this dump.

Only there was a man standing in their way. "Who is it!" he growled, his red cape fluttering some as he pointed his brown gloved hand at them

Lavitz started, sucking in a sharp breath. That voice…no…no way. It couldn't be!

The man standing on the elevated rock knitted with webs had a similar reaction. "Is that you, Lavitz?" He cried in disbelief, shock fading into an evil smugness. "It's so ironic to find you venturing here." He chuckled, dark green eyes shining devilishly.

"You…" Lavitz hissed, eyes narrowed into thin slits. "…you are Greham!" He barked, a fire igniting in his usually calm green eyes as he shook his fist at the man, no, not a man…a devil.

The man before them was in his fifties, he wore golden red armor overtop his green clothes, the emblem of a dragon set on his chest plate. But other than that he was like any other man they could have met. The strange thing was why he was down in such a place.

Dart loosened his grip on his sword as he looked in confusion to Lavitz's furious face. "Do you know him?"

Lavitz's weapon shook as his hands did, his body consumed with undying loathing. "I will **never** forget him!" He screamed for all to hear. "He used to be the head of the Second Knighthood of Basil...Greham!" He pointed an accusing finger at him. "The man who used to be my father's best man!"

They all ran in closer, within feet of the mysterious man at this point.

Greham chuckled in amusement, spreading his arms out wide. "Welcome, Lavitz." He smiled rather sincerely, a ting of hatefulness lurking in his tone. "You have become a knight, fulfilling the wishes of your late father, Servi."

Lavitz grit his teeth tight, boiling level nearing the maximum. "Don't you **ever** mention my father's name!" He snarled.

Greham snorted at the young man. "Are you still carrying that grudge?" He sighed in slight disappointment. "Even after more than a dozen years for my betrayal of your father?"

"That's not all!" He screamed harshly, reminding Greham of all else he'd done. "You betrayed King Albert! You betrayed every single person I know!"

Greham smirked down at the man Lavitz had become over the years, almost sorry for what he was about to do. Almost. "Is that the wrath of a patriotic knight, or a man full of vengeance?" He said slyly, brow raised in genuine interest.

Lavitz twirled his spear around dangerously, pointing it threateningly at him, eyes possessing a crazed look. "Both!" He breathed in and out, attempting to control himself enough to think clearly. "Greham!"

Greham looked expectantly at him, both brows raised as his eyes danced with anticipation.

"I now get to avenge my father, who trusted you and died in vain!"

Greham laughed out loud. "'Get revenge' huh?" He shook his head in doubt. "Just try! See if you can truly best me and my newly obtained power!" He gripped the stone around his neck tightly, it glowing a bright green in his grasp.

Everyone, even Rose, started at this, instinctively holding on to their weapons tighter.

Greham cackled devilishly, crying out, "Emerge! The power of the dragon!" A blinding light burst forth from around him, dying away to reveal his new transformed self.

He wore sea green armor with strange designs like Rose's and Dart's. A few major differences being the chest plate which protruded out much farther, yellow gem pressed deeper in so that from a side view it was unseeable, coming off from the chest plate on both sides was a curved hood like armor that rested nicely on the back of his head, his armlet had three layers to it which stretched a little past the elbow, and at the bottom of the chest plate two long strips angled outward reached to about the knee level.

The areas without the legendary armor were covered by the thin black kind; the shoulder armor underneath the sea green bits was golden yellow, just like the chest gem, the knee part of his leg guards, the band on the center of the neck piece, the gems on his headband, and the outline of the wings.

But it was how his weapon transformed that was most interesting. It was no longer a sword; it turned into an intricate golden brown weapon as long as he was tall with the likeness of a trident. It had three sharp points, the two long outside ones a silver color, and the center one the same shade as the rest of it.

Lavitz was bewildered by all of this. "You...you are a Dragoon!" He finally spit out, eyes bulging from his head.

Rose snorted. "It shouldn't be a surprise. Only the Dragoons can manipulate dragons." She said simply. "Behind the dragon, there should be-"

That all too familiar fear inducing cry sliced through the air again, the ground rumbling beneath them as the behemoth stomped out from an area previously overlooked by them.

"This is the power I obtained!" He laughed maniacally, throwing his hands into the air.

Feyrbrand screeched as if on command, shoving its face down close to the four.

All four jumped back a space, wary of this creature.

"You!" Rose spat at Greham as the dragon settled, pointing her sharp edged blade at him. "Obtaining that power is not an easy matter. Where did you get the Dragoon Spirit?" She dared him to lie to her.

Greham's laughter faded, smug smirk present as he shook his head in impressment. "I'm amazed there is someone in Basil who knows about this."

Rose glared fiercely at him, jabbing her weapon closer.

"Fine." He shrugged. "You too will know before you die." A pause. "His Majesty Doel got all his power and intelligence from Emperor Diaz."

Rose started, growling angrily at this foolishness. "Is this some kind of joke!" She snorted, leaping at him to strike him for his lies. "Emperor Diaz died eleven thousand year ago with the name of the Holy Imperial Gloriano!"

Greham swiftly shot up from his place on the stone, hovering just out of reach. "If this is a joke, how can you explain what you are about to see?" He chuckled mockingly.

The dragon let loose another earsplitting cry.

"Now come!" He ordered, pointing his trident at Lavitz in particular. "I will give you a chance to avenge your father!"

Lavitz shook with fury, every bit of his body quaking.

Greham smiled snidely, adding, "That is, if you have the courage to fight against the legendary Dragoon!"

Lavitz shot forward then, running up the rock to flip backwards and strike out for Greham.

Greham easily dodged, flying to the side. "Try again." He teased.

Lavitz landed with a grunt, charging and jumping as high as he could to drive him through with his spear.

Greham laughed darkly, up at the top of the upward climb to the surface. "Pathetic. He then began to spin his weapon wildly, an orb of electricity forming before him which he hurled at Lavitz, the ball of energy turning into an enormous twister. "**This** is true power!" He cackled.

Lavitz rolled out of the way, digging his hands deep into the dirt to try and resist the tug of the twister. "You wish!" He snarled, back end being jerked harshly in the strong wind.

Greham snorted. "Determined to the point it's pointless. Just like Servi."

Lavitz's eyes shot open wide, snarl forming on his lips. "I. Told. You. Never. Say. His. **Name**!" He let go of the ground, allowing himself to be swept up into the twister to rise up high so he could lash out his spear to kill the sorry scum.

Greham's eyes widened, him moving quick to get away into the far corner. "Clever, clever. But not good enough!"

Over on the other side the three were having their share of problems too.

The dragon slammed its tail down with the intent to kill, narrowly missing Dart.

"Holy mother-" he jumped aside again, sword jabbed into the ground as a support for his weak body. "Rose!" He yelled.

Rose jumped back as the dragon breathed a massive amount of fire down at her. "I'm kinda busy myself, Dart!" She cried back, shooting forward to slash her blade across Feyrbrand stomach.

The dragon shrieked in angered pain, flinging its tail in a full circle around its body to smack Rose right in the gut.

Rose sucked in a sharp breath, stuck on the tail as the dragon wrapped it fully around her tiny body.

The dragon pulled her up in front of its face, glaring at her straight in the eye, a menacing scream erupting from its throat to blow her hair wildly about.

Rose cringed slightly from its heated breath, keeping a mostly straight face despite the pain she felt as she struggled to pull herself out of this ensnarement. But without her weapon she was useless.

"Rose!" Dart screamed, running to stab the creature's tail as he fiddled with the stone around his neck. "Come on! Come on!" He yelled at him, not understanding why it was betraying him so.

Rose growled angrily, doing the only thing she could and sunk her sharp teeth deep into the dragon's scaly hide. She tasted blood.

The dragon was scarcely affected, but his own pride and instinct to kill had him wrapping the rest of his tail tightly about Rose's neck to suffocate her.

Rose's eyes widened as she felt her airways constrict. And she panicked. This was her fear, dying by strangulation. She started flailing her legs to kick herself free. "N-No…"

The dragon squeezed harder, shooting fire down at Dart as he closed in.

Dart swerved hard right, eyes lit in a passionate fury.

Rose was getting light headed now, struggles dying down. "Ugh…"

Dart then drove his sword down deep in the lower part of the dragon's tail, blood splattering all over him.

The dragon still refused to release her, crying out in unimaginable agony and flailing his head about instead.

"Damn it! Rose!" Dart screamed, scared when he got no response.

Shana had lingered back for the most part, but upon hearing Dart's terrified cry she sprang into action. She didn't think about it, she just flung her arrow through the air.

It struck beautifully, slicing through the thinner upper section of the tail and completely removing it from the rest of the creature's body. "Yes!" She cheered, jumping u and down.

Feyrbrand's tail grew limp, slipping off of Rose to fall lifeless on the floor.

Rose, now with nothing holding her up, plummeted to the ground along with what once restrained her.

"Rose!" Dart yelled for the millionth time, sprinting over to where she was falling from the sky and diving to catch her.

She was heavier than he expected, throwing him off balance and causing him to fall to his knees to steady himself. "Rose?" He pressed, eyes wide in fear. "Rose! Talk to me! Say something!"

Rose remained limp as a ragdoll in his arms, head lent back and arms flat on the ground.

"Rose!" He screamed again, leaping forward and rolling as the dragon stamped his foot down to squash them for their doings. "I can't do this without you." He insisted shaking her body like this would help. "So please…wake up…"

Shana shot again to protect Dart as he worked with Rose, piercing his neck. "Don't touch them!"

Lavitz groaned loudly as Greham jabbed him multiple times in his chest with the trident, flying back into the wall of rock on the final hit.

Lavitz grumbled incoherent words beneath his breath as he struggled to rise back to his feet, legs shaking even as he leaned on the wall.

"Give it up Lavitz!" Greham laughed, pointing his weapon at him. "You'll never be able to surpass me when I was better than even your father!"

Lavitz felt a surge of energy at this. "Bastard!" He screamed, charging at him.

Greham smirked, flying up higher. "I have wings!" He chirped. "You can't **touch** me!"

Lavitz didn't stop; he kept going, scaling the webbed wall up to the highest point. "Don't get cocky!" He snarled, jumping from his perch in Greham's direction to latch on to him.

Greham hadn't been expecting this and didn't have the ability to think on his feet, freezing in the moment.

Lavitz held fast to both ends of his spear as he held it on Greham's neck, creating a cage of the sorts.

Greham glared menacingly at the parasite, thrashing about and jabbing his weapon at his head to get him off. "You leech! Let go!"

Lavitz ducked his head down, not letting go no matter how much his body was tossed around. "Never!" He bellowed, gripping his shoulder with a hand in order to lift his spear up and plunge it directly into his heart.

Due to all the thrashing, however, it missed its mark, hitting instead the man's neck.

Greham gasped clutching at the spear to pull it out.

The more he pulled the farther Lavitz pushed it in. "This is for everyone you ever hurt!"

Greham finally got a hold on Lavitz and flung him back to the ground, blood spilling from his injury wound and making it difficult to breath. But he refused to die like this. He would remain the strongest man. "I don't think so." He hissed through the blood, dropping his weapon to allow his hands to fall to his side before he jerked them up above his head, eyes glinting evilly as he coughed.

Lavitz went to move out of the way, finding he was somehow magnetized to the ground. "What the-"

Greham cackled maniacally, spreading his arm out wide an lifting them higher still to signal a large ancient cross to shoot up from the ground and pull Lavitz back to it, shackles snapping onto his wrists and ankles as it rose up to Greham's level.

Lavitz fought against his binds, finding they were rock solid, unbreakable unless commanded so by the controller. "Cheap trick!" He snapped.

Greham snorted, pin needles made of purple energy. "All's fair in love and war." He teased, tossing four of his needles all around Lavitz before a larger one formed in his hand. "Now die!" He snarled, hurling it at his center, the strength behind it so fierce that it broke the cross clear in half.

Lavitz hit hard, tumbling continuously until he slammed back against the wall, the breath knocked out of him as a result. "No…" he muttered weakly, whole body shaking as he fought against the pain to stand back up. "I-I…won't let you!"

The dragon nipped at Dart again as he just stood there, tearing a bit of flesh off in the process.

Dart growled angrily, sword held up against the beast's teeth in a deadlock. But it wasn't going to be that for much longer. Dart was bleeding all over, the leg, arm, hand, and even his head. How was Rose still out cold! "Shana!" He yelled, being pushed back as he took his mind off of the task at hand for the slightest second.

"I'm on it!" She cried back, raising her bow and arrow up and letting it go to strike the monster in the side of the head.

The dragon reared up, howling like a wolf at the moon from the pain.

Dart took the opportunity to sigh heavily and rush back over to the still body of Rose as she lay against the wall. "Rose?" he breathed heavily, cupping her face in his hands. "We're getting killed over here!" Shana's scream filled the air then, further proving his point.

Rose faintly heard a commotion, locked inside her own mind. "D-Dart…" she cried out in her head, the words coming out as a jumble of incoherent garble.

Dart's eyes widened as she made a sound. "Ah!" He cried, doing what he thought he would never do and lowering his face down to hers, breathing his life into her.

Something jolted in Rose as she felt the electricity jumping between their lips and she shot up, sucking in a sharp breath as her eyes opened wide.

She came up so fast her head collided with Dart's, knocking him back some. But mostly he ignored it, just happy she was alive and well. "Rose!" He cried in relief.

Rose rubbed her head where it had hit, grumbling, "Where…am I?"

Dart opened his mouth to speak, scooping her up in his arms and rolling to the side as another spout of fire was aimed at them. "Fighting." He said simply, arms wrapped around her and eyes alert so he could keep them both safe.

"Ah…!" She said lightly, jumping up and reaching for her sword. "Where is it!" She growled. "Where is my sword!" She demanded of Dart.

Dart sucked in a soft breath, looking about wildly. He half smiled as he spied it over under the dragon's belly. "There!" He pointed.

She sighed irritably, cracking her knuckles once before she sprinted for it, making a deep dive as the dragon lashed out at her.

Dart watched her maneuver beautifully, pulling at the stone on his neck. "Work damn it!" He screamed, getting nothing but the glow of it responding to him being the owner. "Worthless piece of junk!" He snarled, taking hold of his sword and charging in to fight alongside Rose.

As Rose grabbed the handle of her sword she noticed the stinger on the end of its tail which had formed as Shana detached the tail. It was its strongest feature. It was her target. "Dart, get behind it!" She ordered, doing the same herself.

Behind it? Dart mentally shrugged, veering off from his straight path to circle the dragon.

The dragon, despite its immense stupidity, realized what they were doing. So he raised his stinger up in the air, spitting a glob of poison out of it toward the both of them.

Rose flipped over it, landing like a cat.

Dart barely dodged, falling at just the right moment to soar over it and land a few inches past it.

Rose launched herself through the air, fluently slicing the poison thrower from his body. "Gotcha!" She smirked, snatching the object out of the air before she touched back down with grace.

Dart slid to a stop as he was left purposeless once again by her quickness.

Rose sent an intense glare his way. "What are you stopping for!" She barked.

Dart started, looking at her in question.

"It's just going to grow back stupid!" She informed him crossly. "So keep hacking at its tail until there's nothing to hack!" She took off to his front then, yelling over her shoulder. "And collect the poison tips!"

Dart stared blankly at her a moment, snapping to it as the dragon slung another poison blob at him. He jumped to the side, driving his sword through a lower section of the tail and taking it off as Shana and Rose had before. "Hell yeah!" He caught the poison tip as it fell, wondering all the while what it was for.

Rose ducked and rolled away from the dragon's flaming breath, transforming mid-jump into the creature of myth. Now with her wings she could reach where she needed – the dragon's heart.

She shot up level with the dragon's face, its eyes narrowed and sharp teeth gleaming in its full mouth. Just the sight of her made him scream.

Rose's hair blew wildly behind her, a devilish grin forming on her lips. "You may be the brute strength..." She dropped, poison tip of his tail raised high above her head. "…but you don't stand a chance in a battle of brains!" As she screamed she plunged the sharp point deep into the dragon's chest cavity, blood seeping out around it. "And everyone knows a dragon's worst enemy is itself."

The dragon screeched ungodly loud, aching so severe it slammed against the walls of this underground place to try an ease the pain.

Rose knew better than to hold on, releasing the poison tip and flying back around to Dart. "Gimme them!" She ordered harshly, reaching out for the other poison tips Dart was supposed to be collecting.

Dart threw his collection up in the air, knowing with her skill she could catch them all.

Rose snatched them out of the air without a lick of effort. There were five, and the tail was basically nonexistent.

"You're dead!" She chuckled darkly, moving in the blink of an eye back to the thrashing creatures chest and jabbing all but one of the items deep within him.

Once the poison was coursing through his veins it was only a matter of moments before he would cease to be because, despite his large size, a dragon has an extremely susceptible immune system. The tiniest of bugs could wipe them out in a heartbeat.

The dragon felt that its doom was imminent and made one last desperate attempt to take its killers to hell with him. He unleashed a poisonous haze into the atmosphere with the aid of the poison in his system.

Rose eyes darted to Shana in particular once she realized what was going on. She had to stop this. So she did. She twirled her sword in dizzying circles, a darkness seeping from the point.

Shana had backed herself into the corner, cowering with eyes shut tight as the poison crept nearer. "D-Dart…" She moaned.

The darkness quickly took over the air like the poison, nullifying the deadly toxin as if it were nothing.

The dragon let out one last sad agonizing scream before it stumbled, toppling over to smack the ground with a loud crash that caused the ground to shake with intensity.

"That's it." Rose said with a nod, coming to rest on the ground as she changed back. "Now…"

"Lavitz!" Shana screamed, hand reached out toward him.

Lavitz had been wrestled to the ground, his spear held up sideways as he tried to push Greham off of him as well as protect himself from being run through by this mystical weapon. "You…won't…win." Lavitz hissed through his teeth and the blood on his lips.

Greham knew it was so even though Lavitz was in a weakened state. That blow to the throat and later the one in his stomach were killing him. He'd lost too much blood. He didn't have long. "Don't count on it!" He snarled, pushing back with intensified strength and coming closer to stabbing Lavitz in the throat.

Rose sprinted over to Lavitz, bringing her hand back behind her to launch the one poison tip from the dragon toward him. "Lavitz!" She barked, "Catch!"

Lavitz's eyes flashed over to where her voice came from, letting one hand slip from his weapon to seize the object.

Greham slammed his weapon, pressing Lavitz to his own throat in his moment of distraction. "Let's see how long you can go without air." He chuckled snidely.

But all Lavitz needed was a second and he bashed the sharp end of his held item into Greham's gut, fresh blood oozing onto his hand.

Greham sucked in a sharp breath, the poison having an instant effect on him. His eyes grew dilated, pulse rapid, and he could barely function period, the pressure he was putting on Lavitz disappearing.

Lavitz used the opportunity to throw Greham off of him and send him skidding across the floor. But he didn't try to hurt him anymore. He slowly walked over to him, standing tall over this man's now weak body, a look of hatred mingled with hurt present all the while.

Greham coughed up more blood as he lay there, staring up at Servi's double. "…Lavitz…you have Servi's strength." He moaned, gripping the entry wound of the poison. "My efforts were to no avail." A pause. "I-I even used betrayal to obtain this power..." He admitted, wanting to die with no regrets.

Lavitz shook his head fiercely, clenched fists trembling as he bent down to better see Greham. "I still don't understand! Why did you betray my father?" If this really was the last time he'd see this traitor, he wanted to know everything. "You were not like this."

The others came over by Lavitz to hear the answers, Shana the closest.

Greham smiled weakly. "Nobody could be stronger than your father." He laughed lamely, looking away from Lavitz. "That was the only thing I could never conquer." He looked back into those piercing green eyes, all the things he saw now having been in Servi's eyes before. "I had...admiration for him, as a mate...and as a friend." He muttered.

Lavitz nodded faintly, prompting him on.

Greham sighed heavily. "But…time goes by…and it turned into this feeling-" He stopped abruptly, coughing up blood before being able to go on. "…This fear from realizing the limits of your own ability...this fear that goes nowhere." He gripped his stomach tighter, teeth grit and eyes shut tight as he moaned lightly. "The only thing you can do is curse yourself for weakness..." He finally finished.

Lavitz shook his head with fading anger, still not fully understanding, before standing up. "But you couldn't overcome your 'fear' by defecting to Doel." He insisted. "You needed to overcome my father!"

Shana eased over to Lavitz, wrapping her arms around his arm to maybe soothe him.

Greham forced his eyes open, vision blurred now. He was so close, he could feel it. "There was...an alternative." He wheezed. "If only I could obtain a new power. I…I could be equal to, or surpass him." He laughed sadly, the Dragoon Spirit lighting up on his chest as he brought a shaking hand to touch it. "That was...the Dragoon Spirit." Tears were in his eyes now, but he doubted it was because of the poison. It was because recalling what he had done to Servi made him hate himself. "I got it from His Majesty Doel." Lavitz lowered his eyes away from Greham, grimacing as he too thought of his father as well as because he actually felt sorry for the man before him.

Greham's eyes were barely open now. "Lavitz…" He choked out. "…live strong. And now...I can go...to be…with Servi..." And his eyes fell shut for the last time, body going limp.

As his heart made its final beat the Dragoon Spirit which had been shining dully burst brightly with the green glow, consuming Greham's body before it died back down into nothing more than a stone on the ground.

"He's…gone…" Lavitz muttered blankly, staring at the empty space where Greham's body once laid.

Rose snorted, flipping her hair back out of her face as she looked indifferently at Lavitz's pained expression. "He is lucky to be dead now." She said simply. "Greed for power eventually conquers you, and unleashed power generates only sorrow."

Lavitz's grimace spread farther across his face. Yeah…she was right. But that didn't mean she had to be so harsh about it. A guy just died for crying out loud!

Shana scowled lightly at Rose and her comment as well. How rude!

Rose glanced over at the weak girl ending dirty looks at her before saying. "He should've known that." A pause. "He was lucky to die now and avoid even more sorrow."

Lavitz sighed softly, lowering his head in solemn agreement.

It was then that the dormant spirit suddenly started shining once again, floating up level with Lavitz's face.

All went wide eyed at this, something so strange spooking them. Shana even let go of Lavitz to scoot closer to Dart.

Lavitz stared blankly at the spirit, shaking his head slowly. "Wha-What is this?" He breathed, taking a tentative step forward to be able to touch it.

Just the close proximity made the stone burst with light, making Lavitz jerk his hand to cover his face as it blinded everyone and even startled Rose slightly.

Rose sucked in a soft breath, untensing as she whispered to herself. "Such a coincidence...! It can't be…or is this fate?"

Lavitz stepped back a bit to see what would happen, the bright light fading to the soft glow again.

Dart stopped gawking long enough to say uncertainly. "Lavitz, maybe you too are..." He trailed off.

Rose nodded firmly. "Dart is right. The Dragoon Spirit of the Jade Dragon recognized you as the next master." She smiled in amusement at the thought for reasons she didn't understand.

Lavitz stood silent for a time, trying desperately to process this knowledge. "I am…a Dragoon…?" He muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "I deserve to rule dragons?"

Rose shook her head in the negative faintly. "Not only do you 'deserve' it, but you have an obligation to accept your fate as a Dragoon, don't you?" She held her hands up in a half shrug.

The stone's glow faded once more as it lost its wings and slowly returned to rest on the ground.

Lavitz stared down at it, mesmerized, before slowly bending down to pick it up off the floor, it shining immediately on contact. "It's what Greham left for me." Lavitz bowed his head slightly. "I understand." After a moment of silence he lifted his head again, eyes burning with passion. "I accept it! The fate of a Dragoon!" He cried, doing a fist pump. "I will use this power for justice! Just like Dart and Rose!"

Dart nodded at him in agreement.

Rose snorted, scoffing so that no one else could hear. "Use for justice? Huh…" The thought made her laugh in her head.

Shana stepped forward some, cheering for him. "Good for you, Lavitz!"

Lavitz grinned broadly, nodding in acknowledgement.

"Ah...!" Shana yelped, knees buckling. As she struggled to stand she raised her hands to her throat urgently.

Dart and Lavitz started, rushing over to her side. "Shana!"

Shana bent over, hands on her knees as she wheezed. "I…can't...breathe."

Dart's eye's widened further. "Too much poison!" He thought out loud, hoping it wasn't so.

Lavitz's eyes were laced with terror and worry as he thought desperately of the way this country and the towns on it were placed. He needed a quick route to help his dear friend. "We can't make it over Villude carrying Shana." He said out loud instead of thinking it to himself. "Then, we have to go to Lohan!" He decided.

Dart started. "Lohan?" He spit out in disbelief. "That commercial town!"

Lavitz nodded urgently. "Yes, that's it! I heard there is a great doctor there!"

Dart gritted his teeth, knowing it was better than nothing. He then scooped Shana off her feet and into his arms. "Hurry!"

**How was it? Good? Bad? In between? Don't hesitate to give constructive criticism. Please review! :D**


	11. Sick of Mind

**Another month, another chapter. I hope you enjoy the patheticness that is Shana. Nah...she's not so bad when she's unconscious. :P Actually, I like her more and more the longer I write her. I hope you feel the same when reading. Enjoy!**

As Dart ran far ahead of the others with Shana in his arms nothing seemed to matter. He didn't care what the sky or the ground looked like, all that mattered was one thing – his baby sister's fragile health. It wasn't just a want or an ever intensifying desire to get her help, it was a need. He physically and mentally needed this. If he didn't get her the help she needed in the time she had left he would kill himself.

Even as they entered the city he barely paid any mind to it, only stopping to let a caravan pulled by an elephant by. "What a crowd. And we are in the middle of a war!" He said in amazement, rocking Shana gently back and forth as he waited impatiently.

Shana's soft, shaky voice reached him as she had one of her moments of lucid consciousness. "It's true..." She breathed. "...If I were fine, it would be...fun..." She whined in pain instantly after, holding her head.

Dart started, sucking in a sharp breath. "You'll get well soon!" He swore up and down, shooting back into a run to find what he desperately needed, a healer.

As he ran like the wind he didn't take in a lick of the city. He realized he ran up a set of stairs, but that was it. Ultimately everything he passed on the way here was a blur. In all honestly he would bet Shana's mind was functioning better than his in this moment. That's how sad he was.

But he was hopelessly lost up on the raised platforms, spinning around franticly in dizzying circles as he cried, "Help! Somebody! Anybody!" He begged, reaching out for a passing person. "Miss! Please! You have to help me!" He pleaded.

The woman was taken aback by Dart's actions, but she figured she'd ask in a snooty manner. "What do you want?" She put emphasis on each word, yanking her hand back from him.

Dart's eyes were filled with tears. "You have to help! I need to find the doctor! Now!"

The woman slowly looked him and the girl laying limp in his arms over, finding she liked the girl much more than the man. So with an irritated sigh she agreed. "Fine. It's the room on the lower level at the very end." She pointed, hating how pathetic this man was.

"Oh, thank you!" He cried in sweet relief. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He darted off after being grateful to the right extent, still not aware of the fact Rose and Lavitz were farther behind.

Dart slammed the door open back against the wall, looking fervently about to locate the damned doctor. "Hey!" He yelled. "I need a doctor!"

The doctor walked slowly out from a back room, wiping his hands together as he slowly looked up to meet Dart's crazed blue eyes. "Oh…and what is it you need…?" He asked, grinning in pleasure.

Dart growled fiercely at the man. "Stop lollygagging!" He said, slamming his fist hard against the wall nearest him. "And stop smiling!" He added harshly. "She's dying for God's sake!"

The doctor lost his happiness slightly, mouth a flat line and eyes dulled. "Right then. Why don't you put her down here and explain to me what is wrong." He patted the single bed.

Dart set her gently down on the bed, sitting down on the edge with her and rubbing her hair softly. "She's poisoned!" He burst out suddenly. "Dragon poison!" His eyes were beyond crazed as he stared the doctor down with intensity. "So fix it!" He ordered.

The doctor frowned in disbelief. "Dragon's poison, eh?" He muttered, going over to her to examine her himself.

Dart stared in confusion for a moment before biting at him again. "What are you doing!" He snarled. "Fix her!"

The doctor glanced lazily over at the impatient man, sighing softly. "I have to make sure this is really what you say it is."

Dart's eyes shot open wide. "Excuse me! Are you saying I'm **lying**! Because I'm **not**!"

The doctor rolled his eyes as he continued to check. "It's an obligation. If I don't make sure then I'm not doing my job."

Dart shook with unbridled fury. "If she dies…" he hissed, fists clenched so tight his own nails were digging deep into his skin to draw blood.

The doctor sighed again, turning his head to look over his shoulder at the man. "Would you just hush!" He snapped. "You came to me, so you will adhere to **my** procedures."

Dart grumbled profanities under his breath at this, wishing it was legal to chop this man's head off with his sword.

Far from the doctor's office Rose and Lavitz searched for the direction in which Dart and Shana had gone. "Where are they?" Lavitz moaned, looking about the town frantically.

Rose wasn't all that concerned over losing them. She knew Dart would be fine on his own and Shana would probably be dead either way. Dragon's poison was something she had never known there to be a cure for. When someone got sick this way they usually suffered a slow, painful death. "Probably a doctor."

Lavitz rolled his eyes. "No, he went for a stroll." He quipped sarcastically. "No, duh a doctor! I meant where is the doctor?"

Rose scowled darkly at him. "Don't talk back to me." She hissed, hands clenching in a rare instance of slipping control. "No one talks like that to me."

Lavitz frowned deeply at her and her odd set offs. "Whatever." He growled. "Just get me to the doctor!"

Rose nodded faintly. "Fine." She walked promptly over to a passerby. "Hey, you." She chirped, waving a hand in front of their face.

"What?" The man growled in a deep voice.

"I am new in town and I was just wondering…" She said so sweetly she almost made herself gag. "…where might the doctor be?" She even bat her eyes.

The man smiled in infatuation. "U-Up the stairs and to the far end on the bottom level. Oh…and a red door!" He pointed in the general direction.

Rose nodded in appreciation, turning about to head back towards Lavitz before she made a disgusted face and stuck her finger up toward her mouth. "Well," she said with her expressionless look, beckoning to Lavitz. "Let's go."

Lavitz stared blankly at her as she moved past him to where the stranger had indicated. What the hell had that been? Had she just flirted to get her way…? Was she so sly? "Damn…" he muttered with a smirk.

Rose noticed from the corner of her eye that Lavitz was glued to the spot. She growled under her breath, rounding on him. "Move it!" She snapped.

Lavitz snapped out of it, running to catch up to her. "Of course!" He chirped, walking in stride with her.

Rose didn't say a word as they climbed the stairs and headed for the doctor. She was much more intent on taking in the scenery like Dart might have been had his sister's life not been on the line.

What she saw was no real surprise to her. The walkways were built of wood, although it was much sturdier than a lot of lifted areas she'd seen in the past. At the top of the first set of stairs the path of wood curved backward to the left up a set of stairs to one home made of weak stone. And around the edges of the raised platform as well as the stairs there was a railing for safety.

A bit back from their way up set off of the backwards curve was a bridge leading to the opposite side of the wooden walkway. It was without a set of stairs, remaining flat as it lead to two doors to two separate homes. The one common characteristic was that both the wooden paths led forward to the same destination. "It's this way." Rose said, going forward on the planks and passed up the next set of stairs heading upward. "On the bottom floor."

"I **was** listening you know." Lavitz growled, rolling his eyes.

Rose rolled her eyes right back at him, passing beneath a bridge like the one at the front that connected the stairs to the entrance of a single building, no platform at the end. And just past this Rose saw stairs on the opposite side curving around and flattening out to connect to the long flight of stairs on the side they were on. Rose almost went over to the stairs, seeing the red door the man had spoken of just before she did. "That's it." She stated the obvious. "He said…" she trailed off, catching the look Lavitz was giving her and not wanting to get griped at any more.

Lavitz would have done as she thought had she not stopped herself. However, since she had had the decency to spare him of hearing the 'he said this' speech he decided against it. "Then what are we waiting for?" He shrugged slightly.

Rose shrugged back.

Lavitz frowned. "Let's just go in." He grumbled, taking a hold of the doorknob and turned it slowly before pushing it open.

They walked in just as the doctor moved back from Shana, a stunned look on his face. "I…I couldn't believe it was dragon's poison until I saw it with my own eyes." He muttered as he shook his head. "I have never seen such symptoms."

Lavitz moved over to Dart's side as the doctor continued to stare at Shana during his pause.

Rose settled back against the wall, looking anywhere but at Shana and the rest of them. She didn't want to see her when she knew how she looked already. She looked dead. Just the thought made her cringe. It didn't matter that Shana was a pathetic, fragile flower…Rose still didn't want to have her die.

The doctor breathed out heavily, turning to face the angry man waiting and the two new entries to explain. "There is nothing wrong with the body…at least that's how it seems. But her consciousness has closed inward after she arrived here." He grimaced at the notion. "It seems the mind is poisoned, not the body."

Dart braced himself for the news he knew was coming, mouth curved into a sharp snarl.

"I don't think the clinic can help her." He sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry…but in this condition, it could be a week." He averted his eyes as he added, "If she is lucky…"

Dart shook from a combination of terror and frustration, fighting to hold the tears back. "NO!" He shrieked. "Can't you do **something**!" He pleaded.

The doctor frowned deeply, turning back toward the motionless girl lying in the bed. "I'll do everything I can." He assured, a puzzled expression finding its way onto his face as he thought out loud, "What was such a cute girl doing with a legendary monster anyway?"

Lavitz clenched his fists in anger, stomping forward to grab a hold of the doctors shoulder and force him to face him as he berated him. "She fought against it to save the country! She is not some weak pretty face! She is a hero!"

The doctor's eyes widened at this man's insurmountable fury.

"Now think hard!" Lavitz demanded, shaking him by the shoulder which he still gripped. "Is there anything you can do!" The way Lavitz eyed him basically dared the doctor to say there was nothing.

"Hmm…hold on." The doctor breathed, pacing over to the far corner and back again before he spoke with confidence. "If we can get some Dragoni Plant, she may survive."

Dart jumped on this, eyes shining with life and renewed hope. "Really!"

The doctor nodded. "I read it in a secret heirloom book." Despite this hope the doctor still made a habit of pointing out the negative. "The problem is, as with dragons, Dragoni Plant exists only in legend." He simpered. "I can not say for sure if it really exists."

Dart didn't care one bit, this fact he voiced. "Even so…we can not wait like this, doing nothing!" He shook his head fervently in the negative before looking to Lavitz with determination. "Let's go look for Dragoni Plant on our own!"

Lavitz nodded with equal determination. "Yes! We at least might be able to find something in this town!" They had to, for Shana. She needed them now more than ever. If they were to fail…she would surely die.

Dart pumped his fist, trying not to think as he knew Lavitz was by the way he was unconsciously cringing. "Definitely!"

"Mmhm." Lavitz said through tightly pressed lips. "Lohan is a commercial town where everybody is welcome. There should be some information here." He elaborated on his previous statement.

The doctor was getting rather into this case, saying energetically. "Although it is temporary, I will try to stanch the poisoning." He coughed, standing straighter as he mentioned, "I am not called the best doctor in Serdio for nothing!" A pause. "I will rise to the occasion!"

Dart nodded halfheartedly, not really caring what he had to say, only about what he could actually do. "Come on guys!" He ordered his comrades, rounding about and running out.

Rose pushed off of her brace slowly, stretching, as the boys flew out the door. "They're worse than children…" she grumbled, referring to how they always ran off without her and how they never seemed to run out of steam.

"Oh!" The doctor chirped, waving his hand to get Rose's attention.

On her way to the door she did an unhurried turnabout. "What?" She growled, crossing her arms over her chest to further show she wanted to end this quick.

The doctor smiled falsely, scared of this woman. "I meant to tell them, but they ran out so quick." He shook his head, a true smile forming. "Oh to be young…"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you're old and going to die, I get it. However this girl is going to die much sooner if you don't. So, spit. It. Out!" She lashed out verbally.

The doctor jumped in his skin, scrambling to find the words that he'd needed to say, "Um, well…there's an antic store around here that might help you find out where to go to find this Dragoni Plant." He was twiddling his thumbs nervously as he talked at high speed. "It's the blue door on the other side of the bridge." He added with a sigh.

Rose nodded. "Thanks." She muttered, heading back towards the door. "I'll tell the idiots."

The doctor sighed heavily in relief the instant the door fell shut. "Thank God she's gone." He fell back on the side of the bed to further display his thankfulness. "But how strange she is…fighting for her friend's life while seemingly hating them." He chuckled. "I knew only a few like that. They truly are the best people you'll ever meet."

Rose was in no hurry even after receiving the news that the clue to saving Shana's life could lie in the antic shop at the opposite end of this raised platform. She wasn't one to act all frantic and such even under such circumstances. It took a lot for her to go against this nature of hers. Instead, she figured she'd make them work a bit. "Dart!" She called, looking about herself lazily.

There was no reply, but she didn't walk any faster. She simply yelled a little louder. "Dart!" She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Lavitz!"

A door slammed open halfway down the walk, the two men bursting forth from it with stressed and 'wow are we stupid' looks on their faces. "We're idiots!" Lavitz cried, proving Rose's point perfectly.

Dart did a face palm. "**No**. He's an idiot! That damn doctor could've given us some help! But no! God forbid he actually **try** and help save a person's life!"

Rose crossed her arms and set back to watch this for a minute. Seeing him this steamed would be quite a treat.

Lavitz shook his head, laying a hand on Dart's shoulder. "Dude, don't talk bad about the guy. We barely know him. Besides-" He tried to reason, being cut off in the process.

"I don't care!" Dart yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "This's what the guy gets when he stands back and makes us do all the work!"

Rose snorted in amusement.

"Dude!" Lavitz tried again. "Maybe he tried to tell us. Maybe we ran out too fast."

Dart thought a whole second on this before tossing the idea to the side and stepping all over it. "So! He should have been faster!" He crossed his arms, thrusting his head toward the sky.

Rose shook her head at them, choosing now to go to them. "He's right." She said coolly, watching the two as they jumped from the sound of her voice.

"And where have you been?" Dart growled superciliously, dropping his eyes down to meet hers.

Rose acted as if his words meant nothing, voice still holding an edge despite her efforts to hide her contempt. "Doing what you idiots didn't have the brains to do – learn." She paused momentarily to twirl a strand of her hair. "The doctor did tell you where to go, you were merely too quick to leave to hear it."

Dart glared at her with as much intensity as she did him, trying to silently order her to give up this valuable information. When she kept her lips tightly pressed together he finally snapped, "Well! What is it!"

Rose looked away from him as if she had heard nothing, irritated look ever present.

"Oh, come on!" Dart cried, throwing his hands forward. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Rose glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "What? I'm merely hurrying my mind along to another topic instead of waiting to listen to what you have to say."

Dart screamed in angry annoyance. "Fine!" He barked. "I'm sorry for snapping! Now will you tell me?" His angry tone had faded by the end of his sentence into one of total despair and desperation. "Please…?"

Rose frowned, thinking about it a minute as she tapped her foot rhythmically before sighing softly, a victorious grin on her lips. "Alright. If you really want to know, he said the antic shop would be beneficial." She waved her hand over in the general direction. "Somewhere over there, a blue door."

Dart stopped listening after she pointed, zooming like a bullet over to that section of the walkway. He didn't have time to wait for the other two no matter how much they wanted to help Shana or, in Rose's case, didn't want to. All he knew was here lied the key to his baby sister's life.

Rose shook her head. "He didn't learn the second time."

Lavitz shrugged. "What did you expect? It is his sister we're talking about." He went to follow him, pausing to look back and add, "Wouldn't you act the same?" And he was off.

This caught Rose a bit off guard, her sucking in a soft breath in reaction. Yes…it was so. Although she had no siblings there was still one person who could have created such a fire in her. Zieg was her everything. Even now as she thought back she cringed in pain at the memory of losing him due to her weakness.

Her gaze intensified then as she stood there, teeth grit and fists clenched. No! She wouldn't be so weak again. She would save Shana no matter what!

Dart and Lavitz begrudgingly waited for Rose to catch up, knowing that deep down she'd want to hear what the owner had to say about the key to Shana's life. After all, she had to care some since she bothered following them around and fought to protect them despite her words. Actions were the most powerful indicator of one's true feelings anyway.

Rose gave her best attempt at a smile as she reached them, appreciating the fact that they thought to wait for her despite their immense desire to get going and save Shana.

Then they all walked I together, not expecting what they saw when they entered.

The place was extremely high reaching, dusty from head to toe. There were file cabinets and shelves reaching high to the ceiling which were filled to the point that some objects looked to be barely hanging onto their footing. It was amazing they were able to keep up on the wooden surface. There was a desk put together poorly directly to their left. On their right was a short ladder leading to a higher point to aid in reaching some things out of reach, but only slightly. Lastly there was a single lantern hanging by the ladder.

But the appearance of the room wasn't what surprised them. It was the person within the room.

Dabas perked, walking forward to greet them with a smile. "Welcome!" He started afterward. "Hey!" He went to slap Dart playfully on the shoulder. "You guys!"

Dart's face lit up. "Dabas!" This was great! Just knowing the owner would help their chances of finding out clues exponentially.

Lavitz rubbed his head, chuckling. "It's the goofy merchant from the other day!" What were the odds? King Albert would find this anomaly very interesting. He loved calculating likelihoods of just about anything and loved it even more when the odds were beaten by pure luck.

Dabas threw his hands into the air, grin spreading farther across his aged face. "I'm glad you folks are here!" He shook Dart's hand forcefully. "Thanks again for Villude, really! Now I can run my business!"

Dart smiled in embarrassment, shrugging, "Ah…it was nothing. I was just there at the right time I suppose."

Dabas shrugged back, "So, what do you want! You can find anything in Dabas' Antiques." He insisted, excited at the possibility of selling something after a long drought of business.

Dart looked to Rose and then to Lavitz to see if they were thinking the same as he was.

Rose didn't respond, as expected, while Lavitz nodded in agreement.

Dart turned back to Dabas. "Do you carry herbs too?" He said hopefully, fingers digging into his skin as he clenched his fists in anticipation as well as held his breath.

Dabas nodded enthusiastically. "You got it! I have everything!" He threw his hands into the air from shear excitement. "From extremely rare medicine to secret magical medicine, I have it all!"

A bright smile lit Lavitz face at this. He too was letting his hope get the better of him.

Now even Rose was showing signs of having that false hope which she so detested as a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth.

Dart burst out with enough happiness for them all, "Have you heard of the Dragoni Plant? I heard it is a very rare herb!" His eyes were wide in anticipation.

"Oh!" Dabas chirped. "The Dragoni Plant!"

Dart jumped forward a step. "You have it!" He cried tearfully, so happy that this could be the answer.

Dabas sighed sadly, averting his eyes from Dart. "No…" He muttered in shame. He was such a bad person for getting his hopes up like that.

"Dabas!" Dart snapped, glowering down at the man.

Dabas cowered pitifully at Dart's harsh tone. "Oh no don't get mad!" He pleaded, waving his hands before him in defense. "But-" he stopped short, frowning as he moved his head left and right to see if maybe she was hiding. "..Um…where's that one girl?" he muttered in confusion, scratching his head.

Dart's fiery gaze intensified. "Sick and dying!" He snarled, about ready to punch Dabas. "That's why we need the Dragoni Plant! Without it she…" he trailed off, jerking his head away from him as he bit his lip and shut his eyes tight to hide the obvious pain. Her possible fate was killing him.

"Oh…" Dabas breathed, dropping his eyes to the floor. "Well…let me think harder!" He decided, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I remember hearing about it somewhere.

Dart looked on with a smaller degree of hope. He wasn't sure he could trust this man anymore.

"Hold on a sec." Dabas held up a hand, it falling back to his side as he hurried to the back of the shop and grabbed a book out. "Well, in this secret notebook…" he walked back to them, smiling brightly once more. "Yes! It's in here! It says - North of the poisoned forest and past the troublesome plant, observed Dragoni Plant in back of the shrine!" He pointed to the words. "See!"

Dart was quick to do as he said, spinning about to look over his shoulder.

Hmm…" Lavitz stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It reminds me... I saw a strange plant in the back of the forest when Shana took a rest."

Rose perked, coming out of her trance for the first time the whole conversation. "Oh, the one that became a monster because of the dragon's poison…" she crossed her arms, looking up at him. "But you can not get past it unless you purify it with something."

Lavitz knew immediately what the cure could be. "What about the spring water underground!" He cried in enthusiasm. "That might help the plant!"

Rose shrugged. She supposed.

Dart returned to Lavitz, just as excited at this revelation as he was. "That's it!" He swirled around to nod at Dabas. "Thanks Dabas!" He waved, rushing out the door without another word.

This time Rose followed at a similar pace as them, actually wanting to get there and back as soon as possible. What really made this strange for her was that she wanted to do so for Shana, not herself.

Dabas stared blankly after them, snapping out of it to say, "H-Hey! What about shopping!" He slumped. "That's all?"

The trio raced down the stairs, failing to think ahead. Their thoughts were only with Shana as she lied in pain on that bed.

Luckily they didn't have to think, a merchant did it for them. "Hey you! Hey classy brother!" A strange man in a yellow robe yelled.

Dart raised a brow at him. "What?" He was antsy to get going.

The merchant grinned. "I have something you'll like!" He insisted, waving his hands ecstatically before the three.

Dart perked some. "That reminds me, we need something to carry the spring water. Let's have a look."

He looked to both Rose and Lavitz, each nodding.

Dart stepped to the front of them toward the merchant, indicating he would partake in this game.

The merchant's smile grew tenfold. "That's my man! You have a sharp eye! I guarantee they are good buys!" He rubbed his hands together unconsciously in premature victory.

Dart ignored the gesture, focused on the task at hand. "I want a bottle to put water in." He said simply. "Do you have one?"

"Sure, sure!" He dug through his bag of goods, bringing out an ordinary container. "This one's durable and the best quality you can get!" He waved it back in forth in front of Dart's face.

Dart shrugged. "Sure, how much is it?"

The merchant's grin turned wicked. "…Surprise! It's a super bargain! How about ten billion dollars!"

Dart looked at him as if he were stupid, glancing over at Lavitz to see if he thought the same of this trickster.

Lavitz sighed dejectedly. "Let's look somewhere else."

Dart nodded in the same sad manner, moving to leave.

The merchant's eyes shot open, mouth slipping into a deep frown. "Wait!" He yelped, running from his stand to block them from leaving. "Hey, wait a minute!" He stretched his arms out wide. "I was just kidding!" He chuckled lightly. "Don't take me so seriously."

Dart crossed his arms over his chest in doubt. "How much is the real price then?"

The merchant was quick to take this second chance. "Yeah! It's about three thousand! So, why don't ya buy it?" He nodded his head faintly up and down in anticipation.

Dart made a face. "Too expensive!"

The merchant sucked in a soft breath, getting nervous. "Hm…well, I'll give you a discount." He agreed slyly. "How about two thousand two hundred?"

Dart waved his hands back and forth in an x. "It's still too much." This was actually kind of fun seeing how low this idiot would go.

The merchant swallowed hard. "I'll go down to a thousand!"

Dart looked at him sharply with a faint frown. "Can't you do better than that?"

The merchant sighed heavily. "Five hundred?" He asked weakly, getting tired of this game.

Lavitz chuckled under his breath as they watched the merchant squirm. He had to remember to do this more often.

Rose was rather amused by this as well, only for different reasons. She didn't care how much the merchant was uncomfortable. She was amused by the way Dart was thinking.

Dart shook his head, grinning from ear to ear. "Drop it once more!" He lifted his hand and dropped it some to indicate what he meant.

"Darn!" The merchant stamped his foot in irritation. "I'm giving it away now." He said in an attempt to fool this man into buying it at this price. "How about one hundred then?"

Dart raised a skeptical brow at the merchant. "Nu-uh…"

The merchant grinned again, this time falsely, before he began to laugh in defeat. "I can't win!" He groaned. "Take it." He shoved the bottle roughly in Dart's face. "It's free!"

Dart smiled in victory. "Well…" He tried his best to sound modest. "…if you insist." He shared his pleased look with Lavitz before saying more. "I'll take it. Thanks!"

The merchant sighed heavily, slumping back over to his stand in bitter defeat.

"Come on guys!" Dart waved them on, heading the group this time around.

Rose pushed off her brace that was the stairs in an instant. She even ran on with them; desire to help Shana ever growing. What was wrong with her…?

They took the few hour trek back to the spooky forest, it actually being night when they finally made it. And boy was it creepy. It was much worse than it had been earlier. Dart could barely even see his hands in front of his face the darkness was so consuming.

Dart sighed at this. If Shana were here now she would have voiced all this and more in her fear. She was so cute with her childlike nature. Yet she still insisted on being treated as an adult. It was all so complicated for Dart.

"Let's jump." Rose broke through his thoughts, bringing him to attention.

As Dart looked up all he saw was Rose's figure going over the edge of the pit where the dragon had once resided. He almost reached out as if to save her, forgetting she was much more independent than Shana and jumping from such a height would be next to nothing for her.

"Jumpy much?" Lavitz chuckled. "Remember, she's not Shana." He jumped after her.

Dart nodded at himself. "I know…" He then followed them down, taking the safer route for once and climbed down the sticky net on the wall.

Dart was, however, the first to reach the tiny spring. He knelt down at the edge, popped the top off, and lowered the fragile glass into the pool. "Let's hope for the best with this water." He sighed, crossing his fingers.

Lavitz crossed his arms. "Hmmm…according to Dabas we have to get rid of that plant in order to get to the shrine with Dragoni Plants." He thought out loud.

Dart rose back to his feet, not paying much attention to Lavitz's words. "Come on, let's go." He snapped the top back on the bottle before looking to Rose as she finally reached them.

Rose stared back at him, getting irritated by the game far faster. "What?" She grumbled.

"Do you think you can fly us back up? It would be way quicker, and-" he was stopped abruptly.

"No." She said sharply. "Look, I don't have the energy. That battle drained me, and I haven't had a chance to really rest." She tried to give him the hint, glaring a hole straight through him.

Dart got it, but he really hoped he was wrong. "Do you want to take a break then?" He sighed begrudgingly.

Rose perked, losing her intensity. "Oh? Would that be all right?"

Lavitz snickered at her sweet sounding voice. She sure knew when to use it.

"Right after we purify the plant, which will come quicker if you can fly us up there." He said slyly, grinning.

Rose's expression turned into a glare again. "Fine." She said through grit teeth. She gripped the stone around her neck tightly, squeezing her eyes just as tightly shut and focused on the fact that she was supposedly in danger.

It took a minute, but she finally forced herself to transform into the Dark Dragoon. "Alright. Move your asses over here." She barked.

Dart and Lavitz happily complied, drawing in close to her on opposite sides.

Rose wrapped an arm around each of their waists, shooting high into the air with the both of them near effortlessly. The only sign that she struggled was her slight cringe as she lifted more than three times her weight. Her wounds from the battle weren't exactly helping either.

The boys were jolted as she landed roughly, a pain running from their feet all the way up to their heads. And they both knew that she had intended for this to happen, since they basically used her as a pack-mule. It was her way of getting them back without really hurting them.

Rose smirked as she watched them grunt on impact, easily changing back once she had released them. "There. Are you happy now?" She growled.

Dart nodded. "Yeah, thanks. You're a real help." He ran on without knowing if they were following close behind, wanting to get to the plant so they could rest and get up that much faster. They had no time to waste. Shana's life depended on him.

Rose and Lavitz were right behind Dart even though he wasn't registering the fact. But they didn't blame him for not noticing or bothering to check. They knew well what was at stake just as much as they knew how he felt about her.

Dart was breathing slightly above normal as he came to a stop directly in front of the strange plant, bottle of purified water held tight in his hand. "Well…here goes nothing." He said to himself, uncorking the bottle and tossing it out with preciseness on the roots of the plant.

All three held their breaths as the watched intently, hoping for the best.

As they watched the plant gradually shrunk in both height and width. It was no more than a minute later and it was completely gone, any trace of their having been anything gone forever.

"The plant wilted!" Dart cheered. "We can go now!" He did a fist pump.

The other two let out their breaths as well, pleased. "Thank God." Lavitz muttered.

Rose, however, did not voice her relief. She was too strong for that anymore. "But right now we're taking a break." She reminded, raising a brow at him to silently ask if he was really going to go against his word to her.

Dart debated with his inner self. He wondered if it was worth it to keep his promise to this woman who he barely knew if it meant Shana's chances of living went down. "No…"

Rose stared him down with an evil darkness in her eyes. "What?" She hissed.

Lavitz stood behind Rose, waving his hands frantically back and forth to indicate him to not do this with her. She would not hesitate to tear him to pieces.

Dart swallowed hard, shaking his head faintly. "I won't do it. I…I changed my mind."

A fire flared in Rose's eyes and in the blink of an eye she had Dart jerked up off the ground by the collar of his shirt. "I don't think so." She growled inches from his face.

"Rose!" Lavitz screamed, running to try and break them apart.

Rose almost went for her blade to stop Lavitz when she remembered she was one of them now. They weren't this disposable group of people anymore. She didn't exactly love them or feel a real attachment like with her old friends, but there was definitely an attractive force between every single one of them. It was this thought that had her dropping Dart back down to his feet before she snorted angrily at him and turned away.

"Are you ok?" Lavitz cried in deep worry, not sure if Rose had had him by the throat or not. As he checked him he sent a dirty glare Rose's way.

Dart pulled at his shirt so it wasn't taut at the back of his neck, glaring darkly at Rose along with Lavitz. "What. The. Hell?" He snarled. "You think you can just attack me because I won't do what you say!"

Lavitz sensed a scuffle coming on and scrambled to remedy the situation. "Easy." He cooed, patting Dart on the shoulder like he might have if it were Shana. This in itself was the first mistake.

Dart roughly shrugged Lavitz off of him, jumping to the front of Rose with a menacing snarl and fiery eyes set on his face. "Huh!"

Rose averted her gaze. She hoped to ignore him in order to try and end this before it started.

Lavitz tried again. "Dart, it's not that big a deal. We should just settle down and-" He jumped, being cut off.

"No!" Dart barked, immediately going back to Rose. "So! Stop ignoring me!"

Rose looked lazily at him with his raised fists and crazed appearance. She raised a brow in response. He was really taking this personally. So much like Zieg… "I don't want to fight about this." She muttered.

"It's too late for that! This started when you touched me!" He leapt at her, aiming to knock her lights out with a punch.

Rose growled lightly under her breath as he went for her, moving back just enough so that he'd miss but he would still be in her range for what she knew was going to happen.

Dart hadn't expected it, but as he put all his force into the punch a wound from the previous battle acted up. A pang of pain hit hard in his abdomen. He yelped sharply, clutching at the wound as he stumbled and fell.

Rose thoughtlessly jumped to catch him mid-fall, lowering him down to the ground gently. "You idiot." She growled close to his ear. "You're hurt."

Dart's hands trembled on his injury, the full extent of his exhaustion finally setting in. It was plain that all that had kept his mind off of it and able to continue going was his fear of Shana's fate. "But…Shana…" He moaned in a mixture of sadness and agony.

"Trust me." Rose said in her best attempt at gentleness. "Shana would want you to rest." She couldn't believe she was saying this. This was the definition of a lie. She didn't like doing it even if it was a tiny thing or might make someone feel better. That's why the ease in which the words slipped off her tongue surprised her.

Dart miserably laid his forehead on her shoulder, eyes shut tight to force back the tears. He may have lost to his wound, but he refused to lose to his tears.

Rose jumped faintly in her place, eyes wider than usual as she watched him lean on her. She really wasn't comfortable with him touching her just like she didn't really want to have her arms set on the sides of his stomach. But she didn't move because she knew it would jolt him and probably hurt him more.

Lavitz stood back, staring strangely at the pair. He, once more, didn't have a place to take in this scenario. Nothing he said would fit much like nothing he did would either. So he waited.

"Come on." Rose whispered, slowly hosting him to his feet. "Let's get out of these woods. Then we can rest and treat our wounds."

Dart was mentally numb as he thought of Shana. However, he was still able to be surprised when Rose didn't leave him to walk on his own, but stayed with her arm around his upper back as a brace for him. He smiled a little. She really did care.

"Move it Lavitz!" Her sharp voice sliced through the air.

Dart snorted at this. Well…in her own way.

**I don't know how I make such little things so long. I don't know if it's a good thing or bad either. What do you think? Are my chapters too long? Also I've started to notice that my paragraphs are usually kind of short, especially during fight scenes. I don't know. Is that normal? Plus, if there are any major mistakes I'd appreciate you telling me. Please review! :D**


	12. Shirley's Shrine

**Chapter 12 of 21. Just a little over halfway. This chapter is a little long, but I hope it's not grating. I remember enjoying writing it. I hope you enjoy it too! :)**

It took them a while to find the shrine, much longer than Dart would have liked, but they did find it. It was set on the water, a floating city if you will. The paths were made of beautifully carved white stones, pieces of the same make and material set farther off in the water. Dart could only guess it had once been a part of the rest of the shrine, a walkway perhaps. But after so many eons of use and inevitable war it had been separated from the main area, doomed to forever sit on its own in the water.

Dart also noticed there were parts of arches of much smoother texture scattered all around the structure like gateways which had been covered by the rising waters. Could it be that the shrine had once had a lower level? And perhaps those hints of stone seeming to appear useless have once been part of a large structure? Dart started to think so, especially when he found stairs leading down into the depths of the water.

Dart veered off to the side, knelling down at the top of the stairs. "Lookie here." Dart slid his hand over the surface of one of the few steps above the water.

Lavitz went over to him, imitating his position. "What is it?"

"Stairs." He said simply. "Looks like this place was once way bigger." His lips turned up into a small smile.

Rose stopped, but didn't bother to look at what they somehow managed to be entranced by. "Yes." She surveyed the great lengths of water. "It was more than likely once a thriving civilization. But war is a terrible thing and does nothing but destroy great things." She sighed. "It happens all the time."

Dart and Lavitz stared at her in intrigue as she spouted out more of her knowledge which she seemed to have endless amounts of. "I guess you're right." Dart said after a time, rising to his feet. "I've just never really given much thought to the distant past."

"Which is really careless of you if you ask me." Rose scoffed. "What happened before your time, no matter how long ago, was just as important as what is happening today because it had a hand in shaping your world."

Lavitz was standing now, exchanging puzzled looks with Dart.

Rose's gaze intensified as she neared the end of her ramblings. "You should never let yourself forget that lest you suffer the same fate as them."

Dart nodded in false understanding. Honestly half the stuff that came out of her mouth made no sense to him. Maybe he was just incredibly ignorant, but he preferred to think of it as Rose being unnaturally intelligent. "I'll remember that." Dart meant it too. He wanted to know such things.

Lavitz had a similar mindset to Dart, he liked learning. Only he found Rose's random moments of knowledge to be slightly annoying on top of being useful. "So you've been here then?"

"No, I just knew of it." She shrugged. "Actually, I know of a lot of places like this."

Dart heard the carefully concealed bitterness in her tone despite her efforts. He immediately wondered if she had become a wanderer and kept everyone out solely because she had had a bad past with losing people. If so Dart could easily say he knew the feeling.

"Hey, look!" Lavitz cried, pointing down a path branching off of the main way and leading up a small set of stairs to a dead end. However that dead end had a chest sitting at the center of the platform. The platform had five or so strips of the white stone set around it in a circle and connecting at the center higher above it. Brush was covering most of the area surrounding the platform, but the path was still free of obstructions.

Dart perked, looking in the direction he pointed to. "Cool." He smiled widely, running over to the chest to check what was inside. "Maybe there will be some gold or something." He was sadly disappointed to find, as he opened it, nothing but a piece of paper.

It read, 'You lost, okay!"

"What?" Dart made a face at the stupid contents of the chest. "What's the point of this?" He picked the paper up to go back to the group and show them.

Lavitz made a face similar to his. "Probably just to get under peoples' skin." He decided.

Rose nodded. "He's right. I'm sure a thief has already cleaned this place out long ago. He probably put these notes here to mock passerbys."

Dart shrugged. "Whatever. We just won't bother with them anymore then." He threw the paper into the water, watching as it soaked in the moisture and slowly sank to the depths. "Come on." He ordered them on, walking about the curve, past another set of stairs slopped down in the water, to move onto a slightly altered pathway.

Here there was a wall with window sized holes spaced evenly apart on their left. On their right in the water was a column overgrown with greenery. But other than that Dart and Lavitz didn't see anything all that different.

Only Rose did.

As they approached a doorway with a carving on the stone above it, Rose stopped. She stared intently at the carving, eyes wider than usual and mouth open ever so slightly in surprise. "That is..." She breathed.

Lavitz noticed that she had stopped, pausing himself and turning back to look with questioning eyes.

Dart followed suite as his friend looked back to her, speaking up unlike him. "What's up?"

Rose nodded to the picture above the doorway, remaining silent.

Dart turned back around, looking up at what she'd indicated. "A sculpture of a dragon?" He asked with uncertainty, gazing over his shoulder at her to see if she showed any signs of him being right.

"Dragon..." Lavitz murmured with a deep frown and an ever growing fear. "I hope nothing bad will happen." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Rose rolled her eyes at Lavitz and ignored Dart's question as she told them, "Take out your Dragoon Spirits."

Dart looked to Lavitz with a frown, shrugging. "Why not?" So he drew his Dragoon Spirit up from around his neck, it glowing that faint white color.

Lavitz did as he did, getting the same result.

It was only as Rose drew hers up did anything else happen. Once they all held their spirits the dragon sculpture too glowed a bright white while simultaneously making their spirits burst with the light of their signature color.

Dart still wasn't used to the resonance even though it had occurred quite a few times, so he couldn't help but shield his face like always.

Somehow Lavitz didn't have the need to hide his eyes from the blinding light. Maybe it was because he wanted to be as strong as Rose who barely blinked in reaction to the light. He didn't know. All he knew was that he simply gritted his teeth and stood as still as ever as it happened.

"They are resonating together." Dart said in awe.

Lavitz had an idea dawn on him in that moment. "It means there is a Dragoon in there!" He was pretty sure of himself, but he still couldn't keep himself from adding that upward inflection to have Rose confirm his suspicions.

Rose shrugged, flipping her hair from her face as she nonchalantly walked on without Dart's explicit consent. "Go see it with your own eyes."

Dart lifted his hands up in a shrug. "Let's move on."

Lavitz followed Dart as Dart did after Rose, not wanting to fall behind and possibly become lost.

As they passed through the doorway they were met with a section that split off in four different directions. One path went to their immediate right, another farther forward and up a short set of stairs went left, a heavy black object blocking the entry. The third also went left and up some more stairs, and the last was a straight shot through the place.

Upon looking up Dart started as he saw a twisted track that looked particularly useless and unsafe at such a height. It didn't help that there was a break in the tracks. It made him wonder if a cart had ever run on it or if it was more accepted to do such dangerous things back when this place had had life.

"Which way do you think we should go?" Dart perked, looking from Lavitz to Rose in question.

Rose did a turnabout to face her two male partners, hands moving to her hips. "You're the leader." She sighed with more willingness than she thought was possible for her. "So you decide."

Lavitz smiled faintly at her unnaturally submissive decision. "Yeah, you pick a route." He had become comfortable with being a lower ranked man in the party. He actually found it enlightening to not hold all the responsibility on his shoulders. He rarely had experienced such a feeling until now.

Dart shrugged. "Ok." He too was surprised at Rose's words and actions. "I guess we can try straight ahead first. We can always come back if we hit a dead end."

"Sound reasoning." Lavitz agreed wholeheartedly. "If there aren't any traps like that stupid treasure chest than this will more than likely be the quickest way." Lavitz glared heatedly in no particular direction as he thought back to the useless chest.

Rose snorted. "But there are bound to be more traps." She said matter of factly. "Any place there was once treasure is a bandit's favorite hideout. And thieves will do anything to protect their goods."

Dart and Lavitz looked at her in such a way that said, 'Are you trying to tell him what to do? I thought you just said it was up to him?'

Rose got the message, pressing her lips tightly together to be sure to silence herself.

Dart nodded. "Alright. Still, I'm prepared to deal with being wrong." He smiled softly. "It's all a part of learning and being a better leader." He paused, thinking before chirping. "And besides, it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong." He laughed.

Rose didn't share his sentiments and as such didn't bother even trying to smile. She simply shrugged. "I suppose."

The trio walked on the straight path and up the stairs they faced after a few minutes as well as a second set to find a completely different area. Here there was that same cart railing like before that curved around from up in the brush to down beneath the raised part of the shrine. It went on to another section that Dart had not yet visited, but Dart could only see a short bit of it before it disappeared into the darkness of the inner area of the shrine.

To the side of the pillars leading underneath the raised platform were a set of stairs that lead them higher up on the shrine. However, before Dart wandered up along this path he noticed a strange dial sitting at the center of the area right between the two carved out pillars

Dart frowned deeply in interest as he slowly approached the device. "What is this...?" He murmured, bending down to get a better look at the thing.

"Hmm…" Lavitz breathed, equally intrigued by the foreign object. "There are three rotary plates, all with numbers from one to five." He bent down next to Dart, scratching his chin as he thought. "It seems like a kind of apparatus with a numerical lock." His frown deepened before he spoke again. "You try, Dart."

Dart glanced back at Rose before he went to do anything.

Rose shrugged in indifference. "It's your thing."

Dart nodded in understanding, turning back to the device to mess with it despite his uncertainty with how it worked. "The first number is…one. The second number is…four. The third number is…three."

A maniacal laughter proceeded his attempt, chanting, "You lose! You lose! Ha, ha ha!" It was obviously a recording.

Dart sighed sadly, not liking losing or being mocked for it. "I guess it's wrong." He stood back up, looking down at Lavitz in defeat.

Lavitz rose beside Dart, giving him a similar look. "I guess it doesn't work unless we use the correct numbers."

Rose nodded to herself, figuring as much from the start. She just felt it was better if they found out themselves. She was the follower after all. If she had come to boss them around it wouldn't be half as much fun or entertaining. "There must be some clues around this place." She honestly didn't know where. However she did know that any real bandit had the answers to their puzzles hidden around.

"Maybe there's something ahead then?" He offered, going up the stairs which had a large pool of water to its right.

Up at this point the trio more easily saw that there was an opening raised up off the ground ahead of them with a ladder just out of their reach sitting up in front of the opening. "What the heck?" Dart grumbled, crossing his arms.

Lavitz took a run at the ladder, jumping up as high as he could get himself to, his fingers grazing the bottom. "Damn it…" He unconsciously cursed, landing in a crouched position before standing up straight again. He then tried to jump from right beneath it to see if it made a difference.

Only when Rose spoke up did he quit. "It's no use." She scoffed. "It was made as a way to tease people like you and make use of the traps they put together."

Lavitz turned to look at her with a deep frown and scowl. "If you're so smart why don't you do something about it?" He thrust his hands up toward the sky in exasperation as he spoke.

Rose shook her head in the negative. "I don't know what the trick is." She said in nonchalance, walking past them to settle back against the wall on their other side. "I just know there has to be one." She paused to sigh. "It's up to you two to figure out the details."

Lavitz rolled his eyes at her. Somehow he found it hard to believe that miss fountain of knowledge herself couldn't figure all of this out in the blink of an eye. "Whatever." He still ended up shrugging, not feeling up to fighting with her or anyone else.

Dart went to say something to each one of them, stopping as he noticed short stairs farther ahead headed up into a section of brush which was draped around the whole area from the tip of the ladder down to the second set of stairs and leftmost part of the said floor. "Look!" He pointed. "How 'bout that way? Maybe there's a key or something?"

Rose and Lavitz both shrugged at him, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the assumption.

Dart lead them over to and through the resistant brush, thoroughly enjoying the way it felt to fight against the immobile being. It was just like in the forest next to Seles where he and Shana played before. And he found he was smiling as he pushed through to the end.

Lavitz and Rose did not garner the same warm feelings from the brush as they fought it. They rarely had to work through such a stubborn plant and as such became rather irritated by this task. They only wanted this to end, and quick.

"This is so stupid." Rose hissed from the rear as another piece of greenery slapped her in the face. She growled angrily, hitting back at the nuisance. "We all shouldn't have to go through this. One would be enough."

Lavitz snorted at her, karma getting him back as he too felt himself be slapped by the plant. "Yeah…" He grumbled. "And Dart sure seems to be enjoying himself. So he would have been perfect.

It was about then that the two finally found their way through the thick brush, taking in a deep breath of relief mixed with a need to catch their breaths.

"Took you long enough." Dart chuckled, beaming.

Rose stared him down darkly, not seeing the humor in this.

Lavitz frowned at him as well, brow raised in question of his strangely perky behavior.

Dart chuckled nervously as he got a glimpse of their displeased looks before he quit laughing all together, clearing his throat. "Well…anyway. There's just another one of those treasure chests."

Rose looked at it suspiciously. "Are you sure?" She crept closer to it, knelling down next to it to inspect it closely. "Did you look already?"

"No." Dart said carefully, going down next to her in order to see if she was right as soon as possible.

Lavitz went to the other side of Rose, being the first to take notice of the odd colored board beneath them. "Hey, look at this." He indicated where they stood.

Rose's eyes widened as she looked down. "Dart, wait!"

Dart was too eager to check the contents of the chest to listen to Rose. He flipped it open to find a note just like the one before. It read, 'Bye bye.' "Bye bye?" He repeated.

And they felt their footing give way, sending them down a chute and into a tiny cramped cart.

The cart shot forward the instant weight was added to it, flying around a curve and into a dark area within the shrine before shooting out in the area where the dial had been at an intense speed. They rattled at an unsafe pace around a set of curves into an area they had not yet seen. At this point there was a sharp drop that had Lavitz feeling sick to his stomach.

"Oh God…" Lavitz grumbled, holding a hand over his mouth while clutching his stomach in pain. However, he wasn't so preoccupied to miss the board painted with a number drop down within view. The number was three.

Dart's eyes widened as they shot into the center room and over the gap in the railing. Another slate appeared before them which read five before they landed on the other side of the gap. The cart then turned hard on two wheels before straightening out as they spiraled downward. On the last curve Dart knocked his head on a sign hanging on the pillar the tracks circled around.

They then flew up and over a hill of a track, airborne for a split second before touching down with a bang. There was a sharp upward curve directly ahead with another slate set on the pillar it barely missed. The number two was scribbled on it.

As soon as Dart's mind registered the number he felt his body slammed hard against the pillar by the tug of the sudden switch in direction. He also felt the weight of both his companions' bodies pressing him hard against his side. "Ow!"

The next thing any of them knew they had hit the end of the track and were soaring through a thin layer of brush before clearing it and spiraling downward into the cold water at the front of the shrine.

Each sucked in a sharp breath an instant before contact, letting it out as they breached the surface with an array of expressions on their wet faces. Dart had a vibrant look of pure bliss, Lavitz had a sickened look, like he might throw up, and Rose looked like she might kill someone the way her eyes were narrowed into thin slits, her mouth was curved into a deep snarl, and her eyebrows came so far down they could have easily been connected to her eyes.

"Wh-What was that?" Dart still couldn't help but say despite his enthusiasm toward the event. "I've never done anything like **that** before." He threw his hands in the air to fully display how he felt.

Rose snorted angrily at him and his reaction, swimming swiftly from the depths to the stairs. "Yeah." She growled with a fire in her eyes as she made it back to land and tried to squeeze the water from her drenched hair. "And I **never** want to do it again."

"Amen to that." Lavitz grumbled as he frantically pulled himself to the shore from fear of both the previous ride and preset water. As he got out he covered his mouth with a hand, feeling his stomach lurch again.

Dart rolled his eyes as he slowly followed them. "Aw, come on guys." He shook his head back and forth to dry his hair out. "It wasn't so bad. Heck, I thought it was pretty fun." He chuckled, hitting his clothes to try and get the water out of them as well.

Rose shook her head to both disagree with him and flick the water off of her hair and face. "You're insane." She scoffed. "That was the worst thing I've been through in my life. And I've had my share of low points." She shook the rest of her body to try and get dry.

Dart shrugged. "You just don't know how to have fun." Dart teased them both, mostly Rose as he wagged a finger at her. "Heck, I don't think I've heard you laugh once."

Rose slapped his hand away, scowling at him. "I know fun." She hissed. "And I'll laugh when something is good and funny." She stuck her nose in the air, hair flipping into and sticking to her face. "Which hasn't happened yet." She stomped off in the direction they'd originally gone.

Lavitz and Dart stared blankly after her, exchanging puzzled looks. "Well…that was…" Lavitz muttered, trailing off.

"…Different…" Dart finished for him. "Yep." He nodded slowly.

"She sure is something though." Lavitz said weakly, still a bit nauseous.

"Yep." He agreed again. "Now hurry!" He pressed. "We don't have time to fall behind! Shana is counting on us!" He darted off.

Lavitz nodded firmly, running after him in lurching motions as his stomach continued to irritate him. But he'd do it if it meant saving dear Shana.

Rose was already heading off to the right path, teeth grit hard as she tried to regain her composure with deep breaths in and out. She made sure to keep at a pace slow enough to allow her two losers to catch up though. They needed to stay with her.

As she neared the end of the tunnel, the light shining brightly just ahead, she felt both the boys shoulders brush hers on opposite sides. She shuddered at the contact, clearing her throat to tell herself it was alright as well as possibly get them to give her a bit of space.

By the time they interpreted her message they had already passed out of the tunnel into the large open space of one of the areas they'd flew by on the coaster.

There was a wide three step stairway a foot forward leading down to a long stretch of land leading left and right. The right went to another set of stairs which went deep into the water, a few stones of remaining footing sitting on the water and stopping in front of a strange indent in the wall. To the left was another, more than likely useless, treasure chest. But before that point there sat a bizarre silver statue appearing to be stuck to the wall of the footing out by the stairs.

Dart stopped as he reached it, having no interest in experiencing some other out there trap that the chest might conceal. "What do you think it's for?" Dart murmured in intrigue.

Lavitz decided he'd answer for once and bent down to read the text on the paper taped to the bottom of the statue. "Statue facing left." He said aloud. "You think there's another trap after the dial?"

Rose sighed softly, not bothering to settle back against a wall because she intended to get through the rest of this nightmare posthaste. "Just remember it in case." Rose already started back toward the tunnel as she said over her shoulder, "But we don't have time for dillydallying. Shana is dying."

Dart snapped to it, wondering what drove Rose. He didn't know if she was in a rush simply because she was worried about Shana or if it was because she was sick and tired of the tricks this place had to offer. Either way he still found himself pleased that she urged them on even though she didn't have to considering she could leave at any time.

Lavitz was quick to follow, saying over and over again to himself, "Silver to left…silver to left…silver to left." He was only able to see where the other two were headed based on their feet movement. He was too focused on remembering the statue.

Rose went up the second path to the left, turning about at the top with her hands on her hips. "Just stay down there." She pointed back toward the bottom of the stairs. "We don't need all three of us up here."

Lavitz and Dart wore similar frowns and annoyed looks in their eyes as they looked up at her, arms crossed over their chests. They were like twin statues.

"What?" She snapped. "Do you think I'm going to run off and never return or something?" She snorted in amusement. "Why the hell would I bother lying to you to do that when I could just leave on my own easy?"

Dart and Lavitz exchanged uncertain looks before resting their eyes back on her.

Rose sighed irritably. "Whatever. I don't care what you think as long as you don't follow me." She did a swift turnabout, anger in her step because even though she pretended not to care what they thought there was still a tiny part of her even after knowing them for so short a time that ached at not being trusted. She supposed it was due to her thinking it would be as easy as with her other friends.

Rose grumbled expletives beneath her breath as she wandered under another section of the cart track, across a plank of wood, and over to the ship wheel she knew was connected with the block guarding the way into the lower level. "Alright then…" she took a firm hold on the golden wheel, turning hard to her right until it wouldn't turn another inch and she heard a mechanism working.

She walked over to the edge, peeking down to see that the barricade had been lifted backwards so that the boys could go on and do whatever had to be done down there even if she wasn't there. At least they better do it.

"Dart! Look!" Lavitz perked from where he sat on the stone. "The stone moved!"

Dart looked lazily over to where Lavitz indicated. "Rose must have done something." He stretched, getting up slowly. "You think she wants us to go on our own now?"

Lavitz hopped up quickly. "Probably." She walked over to the stairs, turning slightly to face Dart. "She did seem really adamant about getting out of here at least."

Dart nodded. "And Shana needs us to be fast! So I don't care if she didn't want us to! We're going!" He zipped up the stairs and into the area Rose had been in, only on the lower level.

From this point he saw the bottom of the supports for the tracks as well as a break in the stone above them which lead over to the far corner where another stupid chest was. He hoped Rose was smart enough to ignore it.

However on his level the path went right a bit until it met with a large pile of brush. This one didn't seem to go anywhere though. So he didn't even bother going over to it to check. Instead he went to their left where he saw a gold statue similar to the one in the other room. It was set on a small wood square which floated in the water.

They had to jump across a break in the stone to reach it, but it was no matter. Compared to everything else they'd been through it was a piece of cake. "Statue facing front." Dart read aloud to Lavitz who was paying no attention to him.

Lavitz was instead leaning way back to try and see if he could spot Rose on the second level. "…I think she already left." He muttered with a frown. "Man…"

Dart snickered at his antics. "What does it matter? It's not like she would jump up and down upon seeing you anyway."

Lavitz shrugged. "I know. I just thought it'd be cool I guess."

"Dude, I'd totally go up there for you if Shana weren't dying and all. But this is kind of important." He reminded Lavitz, nearly knocking him over as he sprinted back to the main room.

"Hey! Wait up!" Lavitz called after him, struggling to regain his balance.

Just as Dart knew she'd be Rose was leaning back against a pillar waiting for them rather patiently. It wasn't that patience was odd for her or anything, because it was one of her defining traits. It was the fact she was being so patient right now when she seemed in quite a rush.

"Finally." She huffed, pushing herself up off the pillar. "Did you see what you needed to?"

Dart nodded. "Yeah, there was another statue in there." He nodded back from where they'd come. "It said-"

"It doesn't matter to me what it said." She said sharply. "Just remember it for later and we'll be good." She said a bit harshly, tossing her hair back as she flung her head to the side and started to walk back up the stairs where the dial was.

Dart shook his head at her. She was sure in a mood. "Hurry." He barked to Lavitz, chasing after this woman who managed to stray as far from a stereotypical woman as possible. It was actually kind of hot when he thought about it enough.

Rose was bent over the dial as the other two caught her, standing around her to see if she had bothered to remember the numbers like she told them to remember the statues. "The first number is…" She trailed off, turning the dial to three. There was a soft click, telling her to continue. "The second is…" she twisted it to five, another click issuing. "And the last number is…" She input the final number as two, a louder click sounding as she finished the combination successfully.

Rose rose up smoothly, pushing her hair back behind her ears as she looked up to the ladder. It was slowly being lowered to the ground as a result of the correct number entry, stopping perfectly to meet the stone flooring. Rose smirked. Whoever made this was very precise. "Let's go boys."

Dart stared intently at the back of her head as he thought of the right way to say what he wanted. "So…" He mumbled, twiddling his fingers nervously.

Rose peeked at him over her shoulder as she heard him say something. "What?" She sighed, grabbing onto the rungs of the ladder.

"Why are you doing all this?" He waved his hand around.

"Yeah, I've kind of been wondering that myself?" Lavitz said thoughtfully, scratching his chin.

Rose went to say what she'd been saying all along, being cut off by Dart. "I know you said we're like your friends…but, that can't be all it is." He firmly believed this. "You're doing so much for us that a normal person wouldn't if there wasn't some bigger reason."

Rose scoffed at him. "Oh, please. Haven't you learned anything? I'm not like normal people." She cleared the ladder, standing on the first step at the top. "I'm just following you because I want to. End of story." She started to climb up the stairs without waiting for them.

Lavitz snorted in disbelief. "She's totally lying. There is something more to her tale."

Dart shrugged, grabbing the rungs. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way." He considered, now at the stairs.

"Yeah…go on." Lavitz prompted, beginning his climb.

"Maybe if we leave her alone for a while she'll tell us on her own."

Lavitz shot him a doubtful look. A deep frown was spreading on his lips too.

"Look, she just isn't too comfortable with us right now." He lent a hand to Lavitz to pull him up. "And her insecurity seems to be her biggest weakness. Sure she can fight and kill without a second thought, but her relationships with people are extremely shaky."

"Yeah." Lavitz nodded as they started up the stairs slowly. "Like how she nearly attacked you and kind of me too back in the forest outskirts." He recalled.

Dart nodded. "Exactly. Even though she says we're like her friends and protects us without thinking, she still has trouble treating us that way out of battle."

"Do you think she was always that way and it's not just us?" Lavitz thought, tapping his chin.

Dart frowned deeply. "I never thought of it that way…I guess it could be so."

"Maybe she's so warped that she thinks all it takes to be 'friends' is protection like that." Lavitz grinned, laughing lightly at himself.

Dart didn't like his choice of words. "She's not warped….just different." He reprimanded. "And possibly to an extent. However I do think she has some inkling of how you're supposed to treat a person out of battle. Just…something happened…something that messed her perception up."

Lavitz nodded bouncily. "She did say her friends were dead right?" He double checked, continuing as Dart nodded. "You think she might have witnessed it all?" The thought made a shiver run up his spine.

Dart grimaced, a similar feeling coursing through him. "Maybe…"

Lavitz snapped to attention as they reached the top of the stairs, bursting out laughing upon seeing Rose sitting on the ground. "Um…what are you doing?" He said through laughs.

Rose scowled darkly up at him. "Nothing." She hissed, picking herself back up and wiping any dirt off.

"Is there a trap on those stairs?" Dart murmured, looking up them to see if it was obvious what would trigger it.

"No." Rose quipped sarcastically. "I just thought it'd be fun to sit on my ass at the bottom of them."

Lavitz snickered, stopping as he noticed the two statues set on either side of the staircase. "Hey, look. It's the same statues as the other two. They're just bigger."

Dart thought about the connection the statues had with one another, snapping his fingers upon realization. "Try turning them." He waved Lavitz off to the silver one.

Lavitz looked at the statue with uncertainty, moving all around it to see if there was some device that made moving it easier. Once he saw there was no such thing he sighed and pulled on it with all his might to get it to face left.

It turns out that it didn't take too much strength and when Lavitz pulled so hard he went flying over the side of the stairs into the brush as the statue snapped easily into place.

Rose snorted in amusement. "Nice." She shook her head.

Dart laughed out loud, holding his side as he tried to remain calm.

Lavitz's head popped up out of the brush, leaves sticking out at all angles in his hair as he scowled at the both of them. "Yeah, don't help me or anything." He grumbled, fighting to get out himself.

Dart continued to laugh, holding his head as he went over to Lavitz and extended his hand. "S-Sorry, man…" he chuckled. "I-It was just…just funny." He pulled hard to get Lavitz unstuck, falling back on his butt as Lavitz was freed from the entangling.

Lavitz landed right on top of Dart, grunting softly. "Thanks." He muttered with a nervous chuckle, hurrying to get up off of Dart and escape this odd positioning.

"No prob." Dart shrugged.

By this point Rose was attempting to turn the head of the golden statue to a different angle. Sure she didn't know which direction was the right one, but she wanted to get this trip over with already. She wanted to save Shana.

Dart scratched his head as he watched her struggle. "Do you even know which way to turn it?"

Rose didn't respond, continuing to twist it until it was facing right.

Dart moved over to her side, gently nudging her out of the way. "Here, I'll do it." He took the statue back to the front facing position, wiping his hands as he finished. "There."

Rose scowled at him, not liking any guy showing her up no matter who he was. Although…it did soothe her some knowing that he reminded her of Zieg who she had allowed to help her on more occasions than anyone she knew. "Whatever."

"It should be disarmed now." Lavitz said with a smothered laugh as he thought of Rose when they'd first seen her up here.

Rose shot daggers his way, knowing perfectly well what he was laughing at. She swore if they weren't in a hurry then she would have knocked his lights out.

"Come on!" Dart jumped in, not wanting to chance Rose losing her temper and attacking Lavitz. "It's probably just up these stairs." He pointed, leading the ensemble through the arch at the top and into the last area of the shrine.

Dart thought that this was easily the most chaotic looking place they'd seen here. There were tons of short stairs leading up to nowhere and gaps in the floor on the stairs and where they now tread. The pillars set around the place in an almost circular shape appeared to have been cut in half, no longer having anything to hold up anyway. Even the thin path that gave them a straight shot through it all looked about ready to crumble in places as the stones shifted beneath their feet.

They were just happy when they made it safely across and were in the large circular area at the top of a short set of stairs. Now all there was left to do was look around the inside of the building at the back for something like a Dragoni Plant.

The three hopped to the center of the circle, slowing as they went to scan every inch of the area. They couldn't afford to miss anything.

Only as they stepped closer to the dark building did they run in to a problem.

Two arrows came flying at them from above, causing Dart and Lavitz to jump back in shock as they searched fervently for the source. "What the-"

A laugh akin to the one which came after the wrong entry to the dial burst forth, a figure in strange wear leaping down from the rooftop to land before them.

He wore a witch like brown hat with a gold material wrapped around the pointed top, similar colored brown gloves, a tan cape, brown pants, and a slightly darker brown shirt with golden embroidery. "It's amazing you made it through the traps!" He cackled, pointing his twin sais at them. "But your luck is over! 'Cuz I won't let you go further!" He cried, bracing to fight.

Lavitz crossed his arms in amusement. Was this guy for real?

"Come on! Draw your swords!" He demanded, twirling his sais dangerously as he shoved them closer to the trio.

Dart jumped back a space, waving his hands before him in defense. "Wait!" He insisted. "We are just here to look for the Dragoni Plant! We don't want to fight!" There wasn't time for this. Who knows how long Shana had at this point? He couldn't risk her life in a pointless battle!

Drake the bandit wagged his sai at the stupid man before him, expression growing colder by the minute. "You want me to believe that!" He lifted his head up to laugh at the man. "You must be after the treasure, aren't ya!"

"That's not it!" Dart swore up and down, moving up close to the bandit with his hands raised far from his weapon despite his better judgment to further prove himself.

Rose's amusement died fast as she noticed the look of malice in the bandit's eyes. He wasn't buying it. In fact, he was inches away from hurting Dart. She growled lightly. She didn't think so! Rose darted up to them, locking her blade with his sai to push him far away from Dart. "It's useless." She warned Dart, weapon raised defensively as she stood between him and the bandit.

"What…?" Dart spit out, staring wide eyed at the back of her head.

"Rose-" Lavitz tried to say, moving over to pull her back.

Rose's mouth curved into an angry snarl. "It's quicker to beat him!" She snapped at them both, warning them off. "And besides…he doesn't want to negotiate."

"You thieves!" Drake snarled, laughing despite himself. "Now you reveal your true selves!" He gripped his weapons tighter, eyes ablaze. "Prepare yourselves!"

Dart and Lavitz swiftly drew their weapons, jumping forward to take him down as quickly as was possible. They didn't care how much it hurt them; as long as they lived and this ended they would do it.

Drake leapt back as quickly as them came forward at him, cackling darkly as he stood beside a chest of his own design. "I'll show you one of my best traps!" He howled, digging deep for the items. What he tossed out made all three jump some.

He hurled three active bombs at each of them, the fuses rapidly racing to the core.

The two boys leapt back despite what they'd told themselves previously because getting blown up would not ensure they lived.

Rose, however, charged full speed at the dangerous objects. She sliced her blade through each of the fuses, destroying the possibility of any of them exploding in a second flat. "Some trap!" She taunted, posed to strike this fool next.

Drake's eyes widened some, hair standing on end in climbing fear. "Fine." He said shakily. "But how about this!" His lips turned up into a wicked grin as he threw his arms out wide, a substance flying out of his hands at all angles to for a barrier.

Rose didn't care what it was. She was going to kill this smug little bastard one way or another. So she dug her blade deep into the stringy material stretched out before him, sucking in a sharp breath as she found her blade was incapable of cutting through it. In fact, it was completely stuck.

The bandit laughed maniacally. "What now!" He taunted as she had him. "How're you going to beat me like that!"

Rose felt her blood boil, a redness rising to the surface of her face. "You son of a…" She tugged and pulled like a mad dog to free her weapon as her words faded into nothingness.

It wasn't as easy as when he'd saved Shana, but he still found his body being changed as he clutched onto the stone around his neck. "Rose! Move!" He commanded, shooting up into the air and toward the webbing with his sword pointed like a jousters at the net.

Rose jerked her head back, sensing his intent by his transformation before she saw what he was doing. Despite her love of her weapon she knew she had to leave it, flipping back on her hands and then to her feet again out of Dart's way.

Dart ripped the webbing to shreds with his special sword, the stickiness having no effect.

"What!" Drake spat, terror ripe in his eyes as he slowly backed away.

Rose rolled back to where her blade lay ensnared in the remains of the web, slicing through the damaged net with ease as she took her weapon back. "Now face me you coward!" She ordered the bandit, pointing her blade at him threateningly.

Drake was shaking in his boots as he continued to back away, sais held up in front of him as his only protection. "Y-You won't win!" He stuttered, tripping back over a stray vine with a grunt.

Lavitz took this opportunity to pounce on him, sharp point of his spear held hard just an inch from the bandit's throat. "Now tell me! Where is the Dragoni Plant!" He snarled, eyes ablaze.

"W-What…?" The bandit whimpered, eyes glued to the weapon that could easily end his life.

"You heard me!" Lavitz roared, pressing the spear against his skin so that traces of blood began to seep around the weapon and coat it in red.

The bandit was in a panic, trying to think of some trap he had forgotten to aid him. "I-I don't know what your t-talking about!" He moaned pathetically, lip quivering uncontrollably as he pushed weakly back on the handle of Lavitz's weapon.

Lavitz growled fiercely all but consumed by his rage and desire to save Shana. "LIAR!"

"Lavitz!" Dart cried, reaching out for him. "Stop! Let him go!"

Lavitz's furious eyes snapped back to Dart, teeth grit hard. "Why should I!" He bellowed. "He's holding out on us! I know he is!"

Dart shook his head fervently. "Lavitz, you need to calm down!"

Lavitz pressed harder against Drake's struggles to get him off. "Calm down? Calm down! How am I supposed to calm down when Shana is dying!" Saying this out loud was like a punch to the gut. He felt the breath being knocked out of him, his anger dying down some as he regained a degree of a grip on reality.

"Trust me." Dart muttered softly. "Just let him go." Dart gripped his stone, changing back at last.

Lavitz glared back at Drake, eyes narrowed into thin slits. He didn't deserve it, another chance. He was a bandit after all. He'd probably killed countless people before. Still… "Fine…" he grumbled, standing begrudgingly up before kicking Drake hard in the side and heading back to Dart with a scowl.

Drake clutched at his throat with a hand and his side with the other, the chilling feel of blood touching his hand around his neck. "I'm gonna die." He whispered, a vengeance in his eyes. "And if I have to die…then you're going with me!" he gripped a single sai, shakily aiming it at the center of Lavitz's back before letting it fly.

Lavitz felt a stabbing pain in his back moments before he reached Dart, a sharp intake of breath being all he managed to do in the shock his body was going through.

"Lavitz!" Dart screamed, hurdling himself forward to catch Lavitz as he fell forward to his knees. "Lavitz! Can you hear me?" His eyes were wide in anticipation.

"K-Kill the bastard…" He hissed, coughing up blood as he turned himself to face away from Dart.

Rose didn't have to hear his request; she was already zipping toward the bandit who was now trying to scramble to his feet. "Nobody hurts my friends!" She snarled, driving her blade deep into his gut without mercy.

Dart sucked in a soft breath at both her words and swift action, mostly her words. Friends…really? He might of smiled if he wasn't so worried over Lavitz and his wound. "Will you be alright?"

Lavitz wiped his hand across his mouth to rid his face of the traces of blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. "F-Fine…" He was just happy the bandit was getting his just deserve.

Drake cried out in agony, clutching at his stomach desperately.

As Rose pulled her weapon out she felt it stick in the stone beneath Drake and, as she pulled hard enough, snap in the middle.

Dart and Lavitz's eyes widened as they saw her blade break, not sure what to say.

Rose dropped the half she still held to the ground, speechless as she looked on to her useless blade with a certain sadness that was uncommon to her. "My…weapon…" she breathed.

Drake was unaware of what was going on, only able to think of one thing as he lay there dying, blood spewing out from his mouth and running all around him from his gut. "I-I have to protect Shirley or…or..." He broke off, another coughing fit hitting him.

It was then that a figure appeared out of nowhere in a blinding light, making each of them jump and Rose spin around to face the person. "Drake…" The figure said softly as she stared sadly at him. "It's okay now."

Rose's anxiety died instantly as she took in the person's appearance. The person before her was translucent, body a faded greenish blue. She floated up off the ground some, the end of her body looking to be torn clothing because she had no lower body. She had a robe with a cape and hood with many differently shaped gems set around the clothes despite her lack of body. She also wore a strange pendant around her neck that complimented her red hair that fell just below her shoulders. "Shirley…"

Shirley, although Rose had taken to staring at her, mostly ignored her. "People with Dragoon Spirits…" She murmured sadly. "Why are you disturbing my quiet moment?"

Lavitz struggled to find his voice, jumping up without thinking to point his spear at her. "What are you!" After barking angrily at her he bent over, able ready to fall in pain.

Dart hurried to follow him and brace him, knowing he would be incapable of supporting his own weight. "No…" He muttered to Lavitz, sitting him down on the ground before bouncing back up, waving his hands fervently in front of him. "We are not here for that! We are here to save our friend's life!" His expression was a mix of worry and desperation, tears at the brink of falling.

Shirley's expression remained sad with a hint of confusion. "Life…of your friend?" She repeated, cocking her head slightly.

Rose was still intent on helping Shana, but she wanted to confirm something first. So she walked forward in front of Dart, signaling herself with her hand. "Do you remember me?"

Shirley frowned faintly, coming closer to Rose to get a better look and then moving farther away to see if there was a difference that might trigger her memory. She did this many times before she instead began to circle Rose. "You are…" she whispered, scrunching up her face to be extra sure as she stopped in front of Rose again. "…Rose, aren't you...?"

Dart and Lavitz weren't quite sure what was going on at the moment, choosing to remain silent for a moment as Rose did whatever she was doing. All they got was that this person was a ghost.

Shirley smiled softly. "Oh...I understand. You have been on your sad journey since then."

Rose nodded solemnly. "You too, Shirley."

Dart still was confused about what these two were talking about, but he couldn't let this go on forever. He had to save Shana! "Won't you spare me some Dragoni Plant!" He begged, fists clenched before him. "Shana is suffering from dragon's poison!" He grit his teeth hard at vocalizing this. It just made it all the more real.

"Dragon?" She muttered thoughtfully, looking to the sky a moment before she said, "Oh, they are still clinging to life." She looked back at Dart, smiling sadly. "Unfortunately, I don't have any Dragoni plant." She admitted.

Dart sucked in a terrified breath, hanging his head in defeat as he shook it slowly back and forth. "Then, what about Shana?"

Lavitz too looked sadly up at the mysterious woman, feeling the same hopelessness as Dart.

Shirley looked indecisively down at an item on her necklace and then back to them. "There is one way to save her." She chose to say after figuring they might deserve it.

Dart jumped forward, fists shaking as he clenched them. "I'll try anything! Just tell me!" He insisted, eyes wide in eagerness.

Shirley smiled, breaking the string of her second necklace to take the item in her hands and show it to them. As she revealed it it began to glow that colorless light.

Dart started, unbelieving. "Dragoon Spirit!"

"No way!" Lavitz said as loud as he could in his condition, coughing shortly after.

Shirley nodded slowly. "A dragon's poison can be removed with the Dragoon Spirit of a White Silver Dragon, which is filled with healing magic." She explained.

Rose raised a brow at her, sensing there would be a catch before Shirley would part with her precious item. After all, it was one of the only things that stayed with a person from time to time.

Rose was right. "Now, I will challenge you to see if you deserve this Dragoon Spirit." She said with a small smirk, holding on tight to the object with her translucent hand. "Shall we begin?"

Dart and Lavitz nodded in unison.

She laughed lightly. "Try to overcome me." Her smile slipped some at her next words. "If you can not do it, the girl's fate is to die."

Lavitz forced himself to stand for this. Besides, for all they knew she was planning on attacking them to see if they were worthy.

Dart saw out of the corner of his eye his friend struggling to stand and instinctively went to him, putting an arm around his upper back to help him. He didn't care if it left him vulnerable. Besides, he was pretty sure this woman wasn't going to attack them.

A bright light glowed then that made Rose appear to disappear from them, leaving the two men on their own. "Dart, Lavitz. Why do you fight?" She questioned, proving Dart's theory.

Dart answered first. "To protect those we love." He said matter of factly, nodding firmly.

Shirley smiled widely. "Dart…bare your heart to me." She muttered sweetly, a yellow circle forming above her that dropped down around her and made her vanish before their eyes. Only as the yellow circle rose again did they see the point to it.

Shirley had now become a mirror image of Shana. "Dart, I have been waiting." She said with Shana's voice, hands clasped at her chest. "Why did you leave without saying a word?"

Dart was amazed at how well Shirley was able to capture every aspect of Shana from her appearance right down to her mannerisms. It was rather eerie. "To pursue the Black Monster." Dart said without thinking, this being no lie.

Shana's eyes became enlarged, her throwing her hands in his direction in disbelief. "The Black Monster!" She spluttered, hands back at her chest. "Dart, what are you going to do after you find the Black Monster?" She sounded afraid to know.

Dart scoffed at her. If she were really Shana she would know. "Of course, get revenge!" He did a fist pump, smirking in devilish satisfaction at the mere thought.

Shana sucked in a sharp breath. "Revenge!" She cried, hand over her mouth. She was stunned. "Please, forget about revenge and be with me." She pleaded after a short pause.

Dart lowered his gaze. Even though he knew this wasn't his Shana he still found her words to cause quite a sting. It was all because of Shana's shift in treatment toward him. She didn't want to play the part of little sister anymore. She wanted more…

Shana puffed out her lower lip at his off putting silence. "The Black Monster or me, Dart?" She challenged, eyes harder than usual, further proving she wasn't the real deal.

Dart swallowed hard, finding the answer to come easier to his lips than he thought it would. "Shana." He breathed.

Shana's face lit up like fireworks on the fourth of July, her eyes shining beautifully. "Really?" She jumped up and down. "Dart, I'm so happy!" She sighed contentedly, eyes softer and full of love until that yellow light passed over her again, turning her back into Shirley.

Lavitz prepared for his turn, knowing how games like this worked.

"Lavitz…" Shirley smiled. "…show me what you believe." She peered into his heart as she did Dart's, transforming into the most respected person to him. King Albert.

Lavitz sucked in a breath; shocked at how much like him she managed to be. He was expecting something to be off, anything.

"Lavitz! What are you doing here?" He snapped, pointing his javelin at Lavitz. "Forget Shana and go back." His eyes were full of fire.

Lavitz started, knowing the real King Albert would never say this. "That's not like you!" Lavitz insisted with a fervent shake of his head, an ache from his wound making him cringe.

King Albert's eyes shot open, a look of bewilderment in his green eyes. "Are you disobeying my order, Lavitz!" He spat, eyes narrowed with a coldness in them like none other. "Choosing one over many?"

Lavitz shook his head slowly, looking sadly up at this foreign replica of his king. "No…" He grumbled softly, a fire lighting in his own eyes as he found the courage to go against him. "Shana needs me!"

King Albert's fierce gaze faded into pleasure, a smile gracing his lips. "Well said, Lavitz." He nodded in approval. "That's the renown knight of Serdio. Life is precious whether it's one or many. Help out with Shana."

The yellow light moved over the familiar figure of King Albert as it had Shana, changing him back into Shirley. She also made it so Rose appeared with them again. "Dart, advancing will bring truth as well as ordeals." She smiled painfully, remembering her own struggles when among the living. "And you still want to go?"

Dart hesitated only a moment before he stood to his fullest height, face set hard in determination. "No matter what, I will go."

Shirley sighed in envy of his resolve. "Brave young people...what you'll see is all the truth." She nodded faintly. "Never gaze away. Only total acceptance brings you to the way."

Shirley turned to Lavitz. "Lavitz, I ask you. Who is the most important person for you to protect?"

Lavitz didn't have to think about it at all, he instantly said with affection, "My mom."

Shirley nodded in agreement. "It's human to care about parents. You are human before being a knight. Parents care for children and a child yearns for its parent. The bonding makes a human strong." A pause. "Don't forget you have somebody waiting for you."

"Lastly Rose, I ask you." She looked to her old friend. "What does life mean to you?"

Rose scoffed at such a question. Life really had no definite meaning, but she could not deny she had thought on her purpose many times over the years. So she nonchalantly replied with the only thing she had managed to come up with over time, "Nothing but sacrifice."

Shirley's smile widened. "Rose, I see the end of your agonizing journey. The young man there will awaken the old you, and lead you to the future."

Rose snorted at the thought, crossing her arms over her chest. Still…it was a nice thought.

"Now!" Shirley cried, lifting her hands into the air. "Illuminate the dark road with my White Silver Dragoon Spirit. The new Dragoons!"

Dart moved with Lavitz over closer to Shirley to reach his hand out and get the Dragoon Spirit she had promised them.

Shirley was then filled with a sensation she associated with crying when she'd lived. "That was beautiful." She opened her hand which held the spirit, holding it out to him. "Take this with you as I promised." Her eyes turned sad as she looked back at Drake.

Dart took the spirit from her, noticing as her expression fell.

She then verbalized her concerns. "But I have one favor to ask." She pointed to Drake. "He has protected my peace from countless attempts by bandits. He stood up to you for me. Please…save Drake."

Rose was amused by the attachment Shirley had seemed to form with this bandit. She had always been the soft one, so Rose couldn't say it surprised her. Besides, she was just happy to see one of her old friends again, even if they were dead.

Dart cocked his head in confusion.

Shirley elaborated. "I don't have an entity so I can't draw on the power of the spirit."

Dart held the spirit as tight as was possible, getting no reaction at all from the stone. It didn't even glow the faint light like it did with Shirley. "But I don't feel any power holding it like this." He shrugged.

Rose rolled her eyes at Dart, turning toward him. "Hold it up with the spirit of the Red-Eye Dragoon Spirit."

Dart nodded uncertainly, picking up his spirit with the same hand he held the white one in since he still had to keep Lavitz up. Both stones instantly shined brightly, catching Dart off guard for the millionth time. "This is…?"

Shirley explained for Rose, knowing from experience that Rose grew tired of ignorance and having to tell others what she knew so well very quickly. "Your Red-Eye Dragon draws the healing power of the White Silver Dragoon Spirit."

Drake's once closed eyes slowly opened, the pain he'd felt as his life had faded magically gone. "Ah... Ahhhh…" he moaned, sitting up shakily, holding his stomach just to be safe. "Am I…alive?"

Lavitz suddenly felt light as well, the pain in his back gone just as quickly. "Oh my God…" he breathed, leaping away from Dart to stand on his own and be sure that he really was well. "Check it out!" He spun around like Shana might have.

Dart's eyes widened. "Dude!" He went to the back of Lavitz to see for himself. "There's not even a scratch left!" He could scarcely believe the power the spirit possessed.

Shirley smiled warmly. "Good."

Dart also knew what else this power meant. "We can save Shana with this!" He held on tight to the valuable spirit.

Shirley was happy for him, so she told him what someone had once told her. "Dart, gazing at the truth sometimes brings pain, but you will be able to overcome it if you work together."

Dart nodded in knowing.

Shirley turned to her dear friend Rose one final time, nodding to her as she started to slowly rise into the air and a blinding glow resonated from her body. "Farewell Rose." Her voice echoed. "I am looking forward to the date our roads of fate cross again."

As the light faded, Dart snapped out of his daze. "Shirley!" He called out as if it would bring her back.

Lavitz looked fervently about to see if she was anywhere to be seen.

Rose shook her head at them, directing her words mostly at Dart. "She is headed to the place where she belongs." She said with a shrug.

Dart understood. She was a ghost after all. "Let's go then. Shana is waiting." He smiled at the thought of seeing her again and, more importantly, seeing her with her beautiful brown eyes looking at him.

As Lavitz jumped back toward them he felt his foot kick something. "Huh?" He bent down to see what it was. "Hey! Rose!"

Rose boredly looked back at him, sighing, "What?"

"Look." He picked the item up, and showed her. "It kinda looks like your old sword."

Rose felt a smile twitch at the corners of her lips. "Yes…" She murmured, walking back to him to take it from him and look it over properly. "But it isn't."

Lavitz rolled his eyes, thinking he should have figured she wouldn't want it.

"It's better." She decided, looking up to the sky where Shirley had disappeared. "Thanks…" She breathed to Shirley who she knew had done this to replace her old broken sword. And now she had an amazing looking stiletto. All she had to do was try it out in the near future.

Dart smiled at the fact Rose was getting a degree of pleasure out of her new weapon. He was especially glad that she had managed to not be picky like he thought she was sure to be. Maybe it was because Shirley had given it to her. He didn't know. But he needed to get back to Shana!

Lavitz didn't so much care about her being happy. He was simply glad she had something to protect herself or them with. Honestly, all he cared about was Shana in this moment. "Alright! It's great! You have a new weapon! We have to go now though!" He said with unimaginable speed, dashing off without a second thought.

Dart nodded, yelling over his shoulder as he sped after Lavitz. "Come on, Rose!"

Rose snorted, sheathing her new stiletto before following after them at her own pace. Besides, she knew they would never be able to beat her back even with their incredible drive. She'd catch up when she was ready.

**So, how was it? Is it bad being so long? I hope not. Please review! :D**


	13. The Master Swordsman

**Here's an early update. Think of it as an Easter gift.**

The trio returned much faster than they went, the promise of a sure fire cure egging them on like nothing else could. Dart especially was filled with life that had been missing previously. He just couldn't wait until he reunited with his dear sister. He had missed her so despite the relatively short separation compared to his last absence.

Lavitz had a drive similar to Dart's. He too wished to see Shana's smiling face again, only he had much different reasons despite the fact their feelings ran at an equal depth for her. And he hadn't even meant for it to happen. It just kind of did. The only thing was he wasn't sure if Shana felt the same.

Rose didn't have near as much of a desire to see Shana as the other two, but she still did look forward to seeing her well even if she would deny it. She had, kind of like Lavitz, formed an accidental bond with the girl. Of course it wasn't like Lavitz's, just similar in the fact she had never intended for it to happen. After all, she loathed relationships of any sorts. They only lead to inevitable pain. This she knew.

After less than a day's trip they burst through the doors of the doctor's room, breathing heavy and thoughts focused solely on Shana. Dart and Lavitz were even bent over in exhaustion. Boy would they have a good night's rest after this.

The doctor perked instantly, eyes wide in surprise. "Did you find a Dragoni Plant!" He cried excitedly, hoping he was right.

Dart stood up, breathing ragged as he shook his head slowly. He then walked over to Shana's bedside, pulling out the white spirit to show it to the doctor. "But with this…" He proceeded to lay the stone in Shana's hand, turning to the doctor to finish his sentence. "…we should be able to save her."

The doctor nodded faintly, not quite sure what this object could do for the girl. He just went with it.

Dart looked back at the other two for the ok.

Lavitz nodded firmly. Rose did the same only with less enthusiasm.

Dart nodded back at them. But as he went to grab his own stone it happened.

The stone sitting with Shana suddenly shined a brilliant bright white light unlike when Shirley had held it or even when Dart had held it up with his own spirit.

The resonance made Dart jump and swirl around in alarm.

"What?" The doctor spluttered before the other three had a chance. He looked on with immense intrigue. What a sight.

Dart couldn't help but mimic the doctor, eyes bulging out of his head. "Wh-what!"

Lavitz shook his head slowly, walking like a zombie over to Dart's side to get a better view. "I thought the power couldn't be released without the help from another spirit." He muttered in confusion. "Right…?"

Rose merely stood back, arms crossed as a degree of surprise swept over her as well. She simply did a better job of concealing the emotion.

The blinding light burst with more power, covering the whole room and their vision with whiteness. Once the light faded back down into the still bright glow Shana was revealed to be sitting up. As she sat, well once more, she blinked in confusion in her bed.

Dart started, jumping over to her to wrap her in a warm hug. "Shana!" He cried lovingly, nuzzling her lightly.

Shana smiled at his affections. However his attention didn't ease her confusion. So she asked, "Dart, what is this?" She looked down at the light shining from the stone in her hand.

"It's the Dragoon Spirit of the White Silver Dragon!" He explained with an unnatural amount of enthusiasm, squeezing her even tighter before he thought aloud. "I wonder if Shana is-"

"A Dragoon!" Lavitz finished for him, dying on the inside as he was forced to stand back away from Shana.

Rose nodded, scoffing at their continued uncertainty over the issue. "Otherwise this much power wouldn't be drawn. Shana purged the poison with her own power."

Shana, despite her love of this unusually large amount of attention Dart was giving her, lightly broke out of his hold. She slipped off the bed and to her feet. She knew Lavitz would want to celebrate her revival as well.

The instant she was on her feet Lavitz swooped in on her. He wrapped her in a warm embrace. "I'm so glad you're ok." He whispered in her ear, sighing heavily.

Shana smiled brightly at his concern. "I'm glad to see you again too…"

"It's true." The doctor nodded in agreement with Rose after thinking on her words a minute and scanning Shana thoroughly. "Her spirit is back in her body. The poison is completely gone!" He was truly amazed at this.

Shana remained in Lavitz's hold, only much more loosely now. One of her arms was draped around his waist as he hung his around her shoulder. "Dart...what is going on?" She still didn't understand this.

Dart drew his spirit up in his hand, it glowing a bright red. He was soon followed by Lavitz and Rose in bringing out their spirits. Then he spoke, "I don't know if it is a coincidence or fate, but you were saved with this power Shana." He indicated the spirit. "Do you feel it? This is the power of the dragon...the Dragoon."

Dart, Lavitz, and Rose promptly let their spirits go after his speech. They no longer felt the need to have them out any longer.

Shana nodded faintly as she savored the feeling she garnered. "Yes, I feel it. The warm power of a dragon..." She trailed off, frowning slightly before adding, "…not only powerful, but very tender."

The doctor had his arm up over his eyes at this point, tentative to say anything to them. "Ex-excuse me…it's too bright and I can not see! Can you do something about it?"

Shana was slightly surprised. "Oh! Sorry!" She quickly tucked the white spirit into her pocket. The light swiftly died once she released it.

Dart frowned deeply as he watched Shana. He was unsure of if he should ask considering she no longer wished to be babied. "Are you sure you're ok?" He said anyway.

Shana smiled brightly at him, giggling a bit to show for once she didn't mind his worrying. "I'm fine now." She assured, thoughtlessly leaning her head on Lavitz's shoulder.

After the reassurance Dart brought his attention to the obviously shocked doctor. "Doctor…about this…" He chuckled, rubbing his head nervously. "I don't know what to say." He admitted with a shrug.

The doctor laughed back at him. "I wouldn't understand even if you told me. It's enough just seeing a miracle with my own eyes!" He assured with a broad smile. "It was worth waiting this long!"

Dart nodded, happy he didn't require details which Dart wasn't even a hundred percent sure about.

"In addition, I don't need any reward." He added as an afterthought. "Just end the war quickly." He nodded to himself. "Yep. That'll do."

Dart was more than happy to oblige with this request, so Dart thought it would be ok to give him the good news so far. "There is no more threat of the dragon." He wore a triumphant smile just thinking about what they'd accomplished. "The rest will be taken care of by King Albert soon."

"I see..." The doctor murmured. "Hmm, you defeated that dragon?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm…you could win your way through to a pretty good level." He thrust a finger into the air. "Wait! Not only that! You might be able to win the title of the strongest in the world!" He was far too excited about this idea.

Dart tilted his head to side some, cocking a brow in interest. "The strongest in the world?" He said blankly, a smirk coming to his lips. This sounded cool, whatever it was.

"Are you interested, huh?" He smirked like Dart, happy to draw another person into the contest which he so loved to watch. "Well, you are just in time for the Hero Competition!" He exclaimed, closed fists bursting open. "Daredevils are coming from all over the world to compete with their brawn and brains."

Dart looked from Lavitz, to Rose, and then lastly at Shana before letting his gaze fall back on the doctor. But he didn't expect Shana to enter. She was far too fragile.

The doctor nodded smugly. "If you are interested, go to the arena."

Dart nodded in anticipation, loving the idea of a little banter. "Let's go see about it guys." Dart hurried them on, shoving them out the door.

"I am looking forward to seeing the match." The doctor said after them, waiting the right amount of time before scurrying out the door himself to go and find a good seat in the arena.

Dart wandered down the stairs to where the swindling merchant had offered them the bottle. He then took the path to his left instead of the right which led to the exit of the quaint town.

As Dart led them on, they entered a narrower path with all sorts of items on the ground and strung about above them. There were a bunch of cages with little creatures in them set beneath an orange overhanging tarp, a sign reading 'Chipmunks' setting up on top of the tarp. To their left there were woven baskets, canisters of multiple food types, potions of blue, green, yellow, and even red, and larger packs to carry children on your backs. The roof was raised higher over these items, a green tarp covering them from weather. Upon a second glance Dart also saw there were multicolored triangle shaped pieces of clothe stretched all the way down the path.

Shana grabbed Dart's hand immediately upon catching sight of the furry creatures. "Oh, Dart!" She cried with life, dragging him over to the cages. "Look at the animals!"

Dart looked back at the other two who shrugged in indifference. Dart was the one who wanted so badly to join in on the competition.

Shana knelt down next to one cage, letting go of Dart to stick her hand through the bars of the cage to touch the animal gently.

The animal by now was used to the attention and eagerly went toward her hand, rubbing lovingly up against her skin while making a clicking sound.

Shana giggled sweetly, scratching the creatures head without too much force. "It's so cute!" She cried to Dart, looking back at him over her shoulder for a reaction.

Dart smiled in amusement, unable to exactly disagree with her. He had loved them a lot himself when he had been young. Even now he could say they were pretty endearing. "Yeah, chipmunks never do lose their sweetness." Kind of like you, Dart almost said, stopping as Shana spoke instead.

"Yeah!" Her smile widened further. "Do you remember when we used to have one?" She stared deep into his eyes with hope, pulling her hand back to clasp them together at her chest. She always did love to hear him say he still held on to parts of their past.

Dart nodded. "Uh-huh. I also remember how you let it get away one day." He teased, poking her nose in playfulness.

Shana scrunched up her nose, shaking her head some. "I did not!" She quipped right back, hitting him in the arm gently as she smiled with unbound life.

Dart chuckled at her, staring into her eyes as he reached his fingers through the bars to pet the chipmunk. He used only his fingers because his hand was too large to fit unlike Shana's petite hands.

The chipmunk rubbed up against him like he had Shana, enjoying the feel of his rough skin because it reminded him of the dirt he'd rolled around in before being caged.

"But it really was an awful pet." Shana giggled. "Way too hard to keep up with."

Dart took his hand back, watching her with delight. He was beyond pleased to be able to see her smiling face again after the scare she'd given him earlier.

Shana smiled right back at him, hoping that he would say something sweet like Lavitz would have. But, deep down, she was laughing at herself for being so incredibly stupid. He wasn't Lavitz, not at all.

Lavitz tugged at his sleeves nervously, not sure of what to do back here with Rose. "So…"

"Don't even try." Rose said flatly, expression remaining bored as she twirled her hair in her fingers.

Lavitz lowered his gaze down to the dusty ground, sighing miserably.

And Dart didn't do what Lavitz might have. Instead he rose back to his feet, brushing his pants off as he spoke, "But we have to get to the arena right now. I wouldn't want to miss out on the competition."

Shana sighed similar to Lavitz, picking herself up and dusting herself as well. Now as she stared at Dart her eyes were void of life, a sadness in them that she knew Dart would miss.

Lavitz frowned, feeling sorry for her for the millionth time since they'd met. He moved over to her without thinking. "It'll be fun." He insisted, giving her a bright smile.

Shana wanted to believe it, but she was finding it difficult at the moment. "Maybe…"

He offered her his hand.

Shana thought about it a moment, her hand lingering above his, before shaking her head in the negative. "No…not right now." She walked ahead of Lavitz then, taking her place next to Dart.

Lavitz sighed again, feeling so unlucky.

Dart frowned faintly as he noticed Shana's slightly slumped figure. "You ok?"

Shana instantly perked, smiling a wide half real smile spreading back across her face. "Fine!" As long as he thought she was happy she'd be alright. For now…

As they went further Dart saw a short stand that reminded him of the ones in Hoax with a kid standing in it with a large smile on his face. A few other stands of similar design to the first ones were ahead selling wheels, boards for building, and material for knitting clothing of one's own design.

At the end of the stretch there was a large sign set above the opening to the arena which read, 'Carnival.' Dart chuckled at this as they passed under it, thinking of how Shana would love it.

The ground inside the incredibly high reaching tent was harder than the more natural dirt outside as well as a darker tint. But other than that Dart didn't have much to say that was negative. As a whole he was quite impressed with how the place was put together and found that it was intriguing to look around at the place.

There were booths of a wooden construct tightly packed together all around the outer ring of the tent. Each one had something different to contribute. There was one with three men who sat on the inside with strange hats on, another with many holes in a raised platform as well as a handful of props meant for hiding something behind, and another he saw was one with moveable furniture meant for what he believed to be 'Find the differences' or something or another.

And those were just the ones he bothered looking at as he raced to find the booth that would sign him up for the hero competition. He couldn't be bothered to look at any others. The only other thing that sunk in as he approached what he thought to be the right booth was that there was a wooden track which rolled like hills up over the booths. As he thought more about it it looked to be a racetrack of the sorts for some creature. This guess was solidified as he saw a red strip of clothe with finish scribbled across it being held up by two polls on the track.

"Hey!" Cried the person at the stand he slowly approached. "Can I help you?" The person wore an unmatchable smile of excitement as she waved to them. She wasn't even sure if they were headed to her, but she brought it upon herself to get the attention of as many people as possible for the event.

Dart nodded, settling himself against the booth which was strangely the only one he'd seen this far on the inner loop of the tent next to a pair of stairs leading downward.

The woman, Ginger, hurried to stand erect and explain what this was all about. "So, you're a fighter then!" She cried, unconsciously nodded fervently out of habit. "Well, if any of you people are live fast die young types, and want to test your courage, step up and fill out the application!" She clapped her hands together, shuffling to find the right papers.

Dart looked at everyone as he waited for her to find what she needed and tell him more.

She pulled a wrinkled piece of paper out of a stack of already filled out applications, thrusting it at him. "But…!" She warned, wagging a finger. "My advice to those of you who are feeble, cowards, or have cold feet…don't register." Her eyes narrowed and mouth curved into a deep frown as she tried to create a spooky atmosphere. "I guarantee you will die."

Rose rolled her eyes at this hyperactive woman, hating how she pretended it was a big deal because she was required to do so. It was just sad and totally ineffective for Rose.

Rose's point was further proved as the woman instantly perked, jumping off the ground some. "So you'll register now?" She squealed in excited hopefulness.

Dart grinned wickedly, clenching his fist in front of his face. "We'll participate."

Ginger clapped her hands together again. "That's my man!" She then slapped him on the shoulder softly. "And, who will be participating?" She scanned them over, immediately eliminating Shana from the possible candidates list.

Dart put his fist to his chest. "Of course I am." He could hardly wait for this to begin. "Hey Lavitz." He turned to him, gigantic smile on his lips. "Don't go easy on me." He chuckled.

Lavitz frowned, shaking his head. "I'm not participating." He crossed his arms in defiance, half sorry.

Dart started. "What? Why not?" He couldn't grasp the reason behind this.

Lavitz sighed, explaining. "I am a Knight of Basil. I am not eligible to participate in these kinds of competitions." Most people knew this, but he supposed Dart not being around for five years or so had made it so he wasn't as aware of these things as most people would be.

Dart looked to Rose with less hopefulness, grin slipping into an almost pleading look.

Rose, unlike a lot of women, would not be persuaded. "I won't either." She confirmed what Dart had known would be her answer. "I don't like the word dude." She used as her reason.

Dart sighed, shoulders slumping some.

Rose didn't particularly like the dejected look on his face and found herself making a half joke. "Besides, it'll spoil the competition if I participate. I'm too good." She smirked, hoping this would make him laugh a little.

Shana knew what he'd say if she offered to enter, so she just offered encouragement. "Good luck!" She cheered, throwing her hands into the air some. And besides…she didn't want to fight when she didn't have to.

"We will be watching from up there." Lavitz pointed to the arena stands which reached halfway up the space of the tent and was what this booth leaned against.

Rose was the first to start off to go and look for the way into the stupid arena, Shana following shortly after and then Lavitz last.

Lavitz dawdled behind even more as he thought to turn about and tease his friend one last time. "Don't embarrass yourself in front of Shana." He laughed.

Dart waved his words away, unable to keep himself from smiling when Lavitz teased him and even more so when the subject was his relationship with Shana.

As their laughter ceased Lavitz also remembered one other crucial detail. He needed to run back to dart for this one too so he could whisper in his ear. "Just don't turn yourself into a Dragoon. It'll create a big mess." He shuddered at the thought.

Dart grimaced also at the images which filled his head. "Don't worry." He promised, moving a step away from them. "I'll crush 'em all without it!" He grinned wickedly.

Lavitz grinned in amusement at Dart's enthusiasm before he went to hurry and catch back up with the other two. "I know!" He yelled back over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner.

Ginger wished she could have heard what they'd whispered about, but she pretended to be as perky as ever as Dart snapped to attention. "When you are ready, go to the waiting room!" She instructed him, pointing animatedly down the stairs. "We'll be waiting for you!"

Dart nodded, eagerly heading down the stairs the moment he filled out the paper to get a glimpse of his competition. Heck, he even admitted that it would be fun to impress Shana without any real pressure of getting killed. It was just a game after all.

As he descended the stairs a deep voice filled with fury reached him, making him look from the ground in interest.

"What!" the voice snapped. "Say that again old geezer!" He dared the older looking man in front of him. Hey…was that…

The old man laughed, speaking gruffly. "Martial abilities mature along with the spirit." He smirked at what he was saying. "You have such an immature spirit. You are not a match for me." It was that simple.

The warrior opposing him seethed in rage, whole body shaking as he clenched his fists tight. "Urrggghh! I can't stand it anymore!" he pulled his weapon out swiftly, a desire to hurt the old man gleaming in his eyes. "I'll settle with you here!" And he launched himself at the man.

The old man yawned boredly, slipping effortlessly to the side before knocking the warrior clear off his feet with a blow to the stomach by nothing more than his fist. What was even more impressive to dart was the fact that the warrior appeared to be out cold now too. "I told you so." He chuckled to himself, wiping his hands together. "You have to respect old people."

Dart knew then that this must be him. "Haschel!" He called out, jumping off the last few stairs to stand before the old man.

Haschel was a man of his sixties, eyes a purple shade, wrinkled skin darkened to the point it was nearly black, eyebrows dark and thick just like his mustache above his upper lip, and his hair was jet black and slicked back.

As far as his clothing went he wore a mostly purple short sleeved shirt with thick white outlines on the collar, end of the sleeves, and on the bottom of the shirt. His pants were the same purple, a white and gray lower leg guard shoe combo covering the bottom portion. Around his waist a red clothe was tied to match the thin red twisted band around the center of his forehead. Lastly he had gloves of black and purple with strange white designs on them. He was just as Dart remembered.

Haschel perked some, half expecting another punk. "Oh?" He muttered, looking at Dart expectantly before it too dawned on him. "Oh! It's you Dart!" He grinned from ear to ear.

Dart shook his head in amusement, smiling first at Haschel's victim and then Haschel himself. "You'll never change." He chuckled.

Haschel shrugged, grinning faintly down at the unconscious warrior. "Well, I taught him some courtesy." He nodded. "That's all." Haschel then went to surveying Dart as he had allowed Dart to do to him. "Hmm...you...have become tougher since the last time I saw you." He decided.

Dart moved his hand slightly toward Haschel to indicate him. "You too, Haschel. You look even stronger."

Haschel belly laughed. "Even if you flatter me, I won't go easy on you!" He warned him, wagging a finger at Dart.

Dart chuckled, nodding. "I know." He sighed. "I missed you, man."

Haschel nodded in return.

"Talking to you reminds me of our journey together." Dart thought back. As he drifted he raised a hand to his chin.

Haschel frowned slightly, also thinking back. "That reminds me…what happened to…that black whatchamacallit?" He couldn't for the life of him recall what Dart had said it was after such a long time apart.

Dart went to correct him as well as explain all he'd been through when the sound of that strange woman from the booth reached him. So instead he looked to her as she ran up through one of the two doors leading out to the arena.

Ginger threw her hands up into the air enthusiastically. "Hey hey hey hey hey hey!" She cried repeatedly until all eyes, irritated eyes, were on her. "Gents! The time has come to decide the strongest in Endiness!" That annoying smile of hers was spread across her face again as she speedily said all this. "So enter the arena when you are ready!" And she was gone again.

All the other contestants filed out of the tiny wooden room shortly after. The last to leave was a silver haired man who appeared to Dart to have a composure akin to Rose's.

Haschel rolled his eyes at her, turning back to Dart. "Don't lose before our match!" He laughed, not waiting for Dart's ok before he turned back away from him and spoke to himself. "This is it." He whispered, fist clenched in front of his face. "Here I come!" Then he too was racing out.

Dart took a bit longer, stretching some to be sure he didn't cramp up out there and make a fool of himself. And, even though he didn't think he took too long, by the time he felt ready an attendant was standing by the entrance.

The person was dressed in a green robe, smile just as cheesy as Ginger's. "It's time for the first round." He said to Dart as if he needed to be reminded. "Are you ready?"

Dart nodded, making a face at the guy's garb.

As impossible as it sounded the attendants smile grew even more. "Are you tensed up?" He pressed, leaning in for a moment to get a good look before straitening again.

Dart raised a brow at the odd man's behavior, smiling nervously.

The attendant saw his uncomfortable look, taking it as fear of the battle. "Don't worry! It's natural when this is your first time." He waved his hand to get rid of any worry he thought Dart possessed. "So take it easy!" He stepped to the side to allow Dart through.

Dart chuckled softly to be polite. However, he mouthed 'wow' as soon as he passed the man up and he could not see him.

"Oh!" The attendant cried. "And remember! All you gotta do is pin 'em down or beat 'em till they can't get up! Kind of like a checkmate in chess, only with swords and fighting!"

As he entered he was hit with a wave of noise loud enough to bust his eardrums. He had never heard anything so loud aside from the serpent in the cave. So he instinctively went to plug his ears as he walked to face his first opponent.

The man opposing him, Gorgaga was it? He was wearing golden armor covering every inch of his body but his face. Upon his head and running down his back was a fox skin, his shoulder plates were darker with spikes, and he brandished a large ax in his hands.

"Here." The man snickered, drawing from his pocket a powder. "It's my way of welcoming you! Take this!" Then he launched the substance at Dart.

Dart was not quick enough to dodge, face getting hit dead on with the icky substance. It even made him cough profusely. "What the-" he rubbed crazily at his face. "Is this poison!" He coughed some more. "That's foul play!"

Gorgaga laughed maniacally, holding his stomach with a hand. "Winning is winning!" He insisted, charging.

Dart may have been hurt, but the boos that rained down from the stands helped him to work through it. Besides, he'd just find Shana and have her purge the poison for him after he took care of this cheating bastard. "You won't win!" He snarled, stumbling a bit as he aimed for the brute.

Gorgaga was one of those men who didn't bother with dodging and was all about first hits being what won matches, so he didn't alter his path in the least. He raised his ax up high in the air, his armor clanking as the distance was closed between them.

Dart used this to his advantage. He slowed as he got up close in order to jump back from the ax once it dug deep in the earth and then hop like a frog over Gorgaga's shoulders.

Gorgaga went to spin around and throw his ax at Dart again. As he did so he found he was immobilized because his ax was stuck hard in the ground.

Once at his back Dart slammed his sword backwards in case spinning around would take too much time, feeling the resistance of bone and flesh.

Gorgaga kept his hands tightly clenched around the handle of his ax even as he fell to his knees. His body was even trembling as he felt his breathing became strained.

Dart knew that this was not meant to be a battle to the death and as such tried not to torture the obviously untrained man too much. Instead he ended it quickly, jerking the man back up by his neck before thrusting his sword a mere centimeter from his neck. "It's over."

Gorgaga's eyes widened to the extreme. He was so afraid that he might actually die that he didn't dare move or attempt a trick. He wasn't ready for this kind of combat.

"End match!" Dart heard the voice of one of the match supervisors exclaim about his fight.

Upon hearing this he released the frightened youth opposing him. He then fell to his knees as the poison ate away at his system. He even felt his body trembling despite his will.

"Now get out!" The same person barked to the loser of the match as he ran over to Dart's side. "Come on." He said gently, pulling Dart up to his feet. "We have to treat you."

Dart let him take him out of the arena and back into the waiting room to be tended to. Although he didn't see what this man could do when Shana's poison could only be purged by the Dragoon Spirit.

The man set him down in a chair once in the room, hurrying off to grab something before returning a minute later.

As Dart waited he clutched at his chest. The pain was growing unbearable.

"Don't worry." The man insisted, popping the cork on the bottle in his hand. "Just drink this and you'll get better in a few moments." He even smiled at Dart.

Dart frowned deeply at the man as well as raised a brow in suspicion.

"Trust me." He handed Dart the bottle. "Your poison isn't as severe as a dragon's, so it's easily cured by medicine."

Oh, so he could tell Dart had faced dragon poison before. And there actually was a difference. Upon hearing the good news Dart took the bottle in his shaking hand, tipping it up to his lips and chugging it down greedily.

The man smiled again as he watched Dart drink, saying one last thing. "Your match is being delayed a couple of minutes to let the cure take effect. Just go out when you're ready." Then he went to wait at his post.

Dart nodded, not caring that the man didn't see as he left.

Dart soon felt his head clearing and a smile working its way back on his lips. He sighed in content. He could totally do this. And this time he'd be prepared for any dirty tricks these people had.

Dart jumped up from the seat excitedly, heading toward the attendant.

The attendant who had given him the cure turned with a grin on his face. "Even though he cheated it was still a great victory over Gorgaga. Are you ready for the second round?" He hoped so.

Dart nodded. "Yeah!" He clenched his fist before his face, smirk on his lips. "I can do this."

The attendant was pleased at this, choosing to evaluate him and his composure like he had the first time. "You have relaxed a little." He nodded to himself. "But still stiff. A deep breath…maybe isn't necessary. Here you go!" He cheered, stepping aside to allow him entrance.

The man Dart was facing now appeared much more honorable. He wore the wear of a knight, armor silver and covering all but his eyes which were blue. He also had a red fluff hanging on his head and pointed ear guards that reminded him of Rose.

But this man also didn't seem to be as poorly trained as Gorgaga.

Still Dart knew one way to definitely beat him. As he ran to meet swords with the man he saw that he was rather small despite his relaxed nature concerning the battle. But it would only work if he caught him off guard.

The opponent, Serfius, launched his sword at Dart's head with amazing strength.

Dart ducked down quickly, rolling to the side just as quickly when Serfius brought his sword straight down.

Serfius stopped his sword before it hit the ground and stuck. He then swung it to the side to follow Dart's path as Dart rolled and jumped to his feet into a run.

Dart slide like a baseball player aiming for a homerun to get low around Serfius and knock his feet out from under him.

Serfius had seen Dart's intent in his eyes and jumped at the right time to avoid the trip up.

However Dart too had anticipated this and swiftly went to grab Serfius's ankle from in the air to jerk him off balance. Then he flung him hard on the ground. And this time it worked.

Serfius fell hard on his back, grunting angrily. But he didn't freeze. He tried to hop up before he could be pinned.

Dart saw how his muscles tensed in preparation for a leap and flung himself on top of the man, slamming his sword up against the armor of his neck and holding hard.

Serfius struggled to wriggle free, swinging his sword up to cut Dart's flesh in a last attempt.

Dart kicked Serfius's hand as hard as he could. He smirked as he sent the man's weapon flying across the arena and left him utterly defenseless. In a real battle Serfius would be dead nw.

"End match!" Dart heard for the second time, the cheers flying down from the stands to hit him. Only this time the sound of them made him smile as he pushed himself up off of Serfius. He even found himself unable to keep himself from waving his hands above his head in acceptance of the praise.

Dart was getting cockier the more people he beat. He chuckled. Shana would say this would be his downfall. But he shook her words off, approaching the attendant for the third time.

The attendant was animated, clapping his hands together. "Your chances are very good because you defeated Serfius! Are you ready for the third round?" He really didn't think he had to ask.

Dart nodded fervently. "You bet!" His eyes gleamed with anticipation. "Bring it on!"

The attendant was glowing. "You've warmed up haven't you?" He knew it was so just by Dart's expression. "Give it your best shot for your friends upstairs!" He indicated them. "Come on, let's begin!"

Dart's next opponent wore just as much armor as the others. His armor was red with gold designs, and he had a golden dragon scale cape as well as a set of tiny bird wings on each side of his neck. The only real difference though was that he was fat. Very, very fat. Dart would not be able to use the same treatment on Danton as he had Serfius. He'd have to come up with something else.

Danton smirked evilly beneath his thick armor. As he stood firm he swung his hammer through the air threateningly. "Bring it!"

Dart smirked the same as Danton. He was ready for this. So as he gripped the handle of his sword with all his might he launched into a full out run.

Danton, unlike the first two, didn't move. He remained planted to the spot, chuckling darkly.

Dart barely thought anything of Danton's immobility. He was completely focused on knocking the oaf down with shear force.

As Dart closed in Danton took a step back and hurled his whole weight at Dart.

Dart bounced off his front like a ping pong ball, skidding across the dirt ground a ways.

Danton burst out laughing. A moment later he forced himself to stop in order to go at Dart. He awkwardly ran toward Dart with his hammer raised high over his head, ready to let it fall.

Dart scowled angrily at Danton as he lumbered forward. But he was in no danger. He quickly rolled to the side with plenty of time to spare before the hammer slammed on the ground.

Danton groaned in irritation. He then spun around with bad balance to face Dart's direction again.

Dart snorted at him, wiping his clothes off and inspecting his scrapes in the spare time.

Danton saw that Dart was mocking him which made a redness rise in his cheeks. "You!" He boomed, his body shaking as he charged at Dart.

Dart twiddled his thumbs as he waited for Danton to reach him. On the inside he was laughing because he knew this action would make Danton even madder and throw off his game.

Danton swung his huge hammer sideways at Dart, putting everything he had into it.

Dart ducked down and slammed his sword into Danton's leg. But it was far too heavily armored to cause pain.

Danton took this opportunity to fling his whole body square on top of Dart's to squash him flat.

Dart had just enough time to suck in a sharp breath and thrust his hand with the sword up in front of his face before he felt Danton's full weight on his small body.

The cheers from the stands intensified as the spectator's natural desire to watch others suffer kicked in. They were like a pack of bloodthirsty animals. The one difference was they only required the sight of others hurting, not the feel of it in their teeth.

Dart felt his breathing constrict as Danton's whole five hundred pounds compacted him like jelly in between two pieces of bread. He couldn't really move either. All he could do was repeat over and over in his head that he needed to get out.

The stone around his neck started to glow faintly as he thought this fiercely and he felt a surge of power.

The next thing he knew he was back on his feet and Danton was halfway across the arena. Still, he had managed to stop himself from transforming. Only the glow of the stone around his neck as his body trembled was an indicator of what nearly had been.

Rose, sitting crossed legged in the stands, raised a brow. She too had felt the surge and was sure that when he emerged he would have wings and be totally revealed. It was extremely impressive that Dart had enough will to force the power back within him while utilizing the first burst.

Danton's fingers twitched as he tried to tell his body to get back up and fight. "T-This can not be…" He breathed, instantly falling limp from the shock of the blow after the words passed his lips.

Dart looked up to the stands where all had grown deathly quiet. He was half afraid that he would be disqualified for what had just happened or booed or something. But none of that happened. After a moment of awed silence the arena burst to life with cheers of amazement and pleasure at seeing their now favorite contestant move right along in the ranks.

A bright grin spread across Dart's face as he let out a breath in relief, his natural want of attention taking over. He waved to all sides as he walked back into the waiting room. "Yeah…I've got this…" He whispered to himself.

About thirty minutes passed, making it the longest break so far, before the last four contestants started to file out the door. "Next is the semifinals!" The attendant explained to Dart since he was the last to leave. "Your match is with last year's champion, Atlow!"

Dart smirked, already formulating how he would end this one.

The attendant didn't know what to make of Dart's expression, but he tried to say what he saw fit. "The only thing I can say now is it's a game of chance! Good luck!"

Dart chuckled. Chance? Yeah, right. He would do this with pure skill.

Up in the stands around the bottom sat Lavitz, Shana, and Rose. They watched intently, hoping to varying extents that this would bode well for Dart.

"Do you think Dart will win this?" Shana said nervously, biting at her nails as she saw Dart enter the arena.

Lavitz chortled. "Like I said the last three matches – relax. He knows what he's doing." He leaned back some, hands behind his head.

Shana wasn't convinced. "Yeah, I know…but didn't you see the last round?" She jerked her eyes from Dart to look at Lavitz. "He nearly got crushed!" A shiver ran down her spine as she thought this out loud.

Lavitz sighed softly, trying his best to keep his attention on the match instead of her for once.

"But he didn't." Rose growled from Shana's other side, grabbing both their attention. "And honestly your worrying is spoiling the match." Rose said curtly, never once looking at them.

Shana looked with sad eyes at Rose's profile. She wondered how she remained so indifferent to people hurting each other when it wasn't necessary. For fun. "But…"

Lavitz moved an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "Just watch."

Shana felt a slight blush creep up on her cheeks as she felt him pull her near. What was more was that he was obviously doing it to distract her from the battle. She didn't know whether to be mad or glad.

Lavitz laughed in his head as he saw her befuddled expression. As he amused himself he fully hoped this would have her occupied for a time.

"Oh!" Shana cried, pointing. "Dart got him!" She was worry free for the moment.

Lavitz chose not to say anything this time around.

"Go Dart!" Shana yelled with her hands cupped around her mouth.

"Yeah…go Dart…" Rose muttered sarcastically, not feeling the need to cheer like these other lunatics. If he won he won, that's all there was to it. No amount of cheering would change that.

Shana stayed pumped and bouncing up and down until she glimpsed an arrow hit Dart square in the chest. "Oh my God!" She squealed, jumping half a mile and wrapping her arms tightly about Lavitz as if this would help Dart. "See!"

Lavitz rolled his eyes. "Yeah…" After another minute he added, "And I also see Dart winning."

Shana slowly opened her eyes to make sure Lavitz was telling the truth. Although honestly she could already tell by how the shouts had intensified to an incredible level in the past few seconds. "Well…it's not so bad I guess." She muttered, untangling herself from him and scooting back over toward Rose.

Lavitz and Rose shook their heads simultaneously. "And he'll probably win first prize for you too." Lavitz thought to add with a soft smile. He wished he himself could win for her instead.

Dart strut triumphantly back into the waiting room to tell Haschel of the good news - that they would be able to face off! "Hey Haschel!" He waved at the old man as he sat. "At last we can meet in the final match!" He was grinning from ear to ear.

Haschel rubbed his head, chuckling. "Well...the world is still to be explored." He smiled shyly.

"No." Dart gasped in disbelief, wide eyed. "Did you lose?"

Haschel quickly scrambled to cover for himself, not wanting to look pathetic. "He was a tremendous sword master." He insisted with a fervent nod. "I think…his name was Lloyd or something." He frowned faintly, perking as a thought came to him. "Think of him as a test for yourself, and just do it."

Dart nodded, looking up as another man entered.

"Speak of the devil." Haschel muttered.

As Haschel confirmed this was indeed the man who had bested him Dart made sure to take in his appearance. Lloyd was a tall man with golden eyes, light skin only slightly darker than Shana's, and platinum hair.

His wear was much different than the other warriors. Whereas they had heavy armor Lloyd wore a sleeveless top that parted at the chest and had intricate white designs running all over it. He had black gloves that extended to just below his elbows, black boots that reached to just below his knees, and gray pants rolled up so they were above the boots. He also wore a pendant of the sorts with a peculiar mark on it. So different…

Dart thought he'd be an interesting opponent. "My name is Dart." He said with a smile, eager for the match. "We will meet in the final match. So let's have a good one."

Lloyd crossed his arms, looking intently at Dart. "Indeed." He muttered coolly. "I dedicate this match to what fate has in store for us." He allowed himself the pleasure of a faint smile.

"What…?" Dart started, brows furrowed at his choice of words.

Ginger ran up to one of the exits, waving her arms animatedly. "Here is the gong to determine the strongest! No time for holding back anymore! The crowd is on the edge of their seats!" And she was sprinting back into the arena again.

Lloyd promptly followed after Ginger at a slow pace, making sure to show how calm and collected he could be.

Haschel shrugged as Dart looked to him. "It comes from the heart, after all." He smiled.

The attendant in the green robe appeared another time as Dart started to leave, catching him off guard. "I am now one of your fans! Your way of fighting, sword use, defense, talking, everything is fabulous." He sighed contentedly. "Now the finals are next!"

Dart walked to the center of the arena, a smug smirk on his face as he stared with intensity at Lloyd and gripped his weapon tightly in anticipation.

Lloyd stood still, but not stiff, ready for any move, yet simultaneously at ease. And his expression was emotionless. He didn't give away any move he might make.

Dart sensed that Lloyd wasn't the type to make a first move and as such flew into a run, sword held back to strike.

Lloyd remained motionless all the while, seeming as if he might just let Dart hit him without trying.

Dart was slightly perturbed by this careless nature, but this didn't stop him from slicing his sword through the air at him.

At the last moment Lloyd smirked faintly and jumped swiftly just out of range. "Over here!" He jeered, still keeping his sword sheathed.

Dart started, surprised by his awesome speed. But he wasn't deterred. Dart charged at him with sword reared back and aimed just below his shoulders.

Lloyd leapt backwards, landing smoothly. "Missed." He taunted again.

Dart was beginning to get agitated by his pace and style of battle. It was one thing to taunt when you actually had the strength to back it up, but this guy only seemed able to dodge. How did Haschel lose?

As Dart swung for the third time Lloyd avoided him the same. His breathing was easy.

"He's too fast." Dart heaved to himself, shaking his head some. "I can't read his moves."

"It's pathetic." Lloyd said loud enough for Dart to hear. He then jolted forward into a head-on charge where he brandished his sword in the blink of an eye and smacked Dart higher into the air each time he hit him in the frenzy. As a finisher he slammed him down with the blunt end before bouncing back to his former place. "Humph."

Dart gasped in pain with each hit. He groaned especially loud as his head was smashed against the solid earth and his whole body was jolted.

Lloyd didn't think to strike as he was down. It wasn't in good taste. He just watched as Dart struggled back up to his feet.

Despite the blow, Dart was able to get back up quickly without much pain other than the places on his arms which had been ripped open. And he didn't hesitate a moment before he was flying at Lloyd once more, a fire in his eyes.

Lloyd chuckled lightly at Dart's determination. It was a quality he valued most in a person. In fact, it was one of his better qualities as well. It should be for everyone, and then more would get done.

Dart jumped into the air to perhaps catch Lloyd in the middle of escaping as he brought down his sword on the man.

Lloyd showcased his incredible preciseness and speed by waiting as long as was possible before flipping back out of the way for the millionth time. "Too slow!" He cried, that taunting smirk ever present.

Dart seethed. How was he supposed to win when he couldn't even touch him?

Lloyd shook his head at him. "You have no patience." Then he was on him again. He slashed him left and right into the air before slamming him down again and retreating.

Dart moaned loudly as his back arched and he felt the pain of a cut made through his armor on his chest. He gripped at the wound, trying his best to pull himself up off the ground. "That swordsmanship…" He murmured in amazed frustration. "It's humanly impossible!"

Lloyd wasn't one to brag, but that didn't change the fact he enjoyed such praises. "Indeed." He said to himself, relaxing as he anticipated Dart to stay on the ground. No man withstood more than a few hits from him. Or at least they knew better to stay down.

Dart forced himself up onto his knees, body trembling from the pain. "I will get up." He insisted, teeth gritted as he wobbled into an unsteady standing position. His sword was held loosely in his free hand.

Lloyd raised a brow in surprise. Interesting... "But not enough." He laughed softly, lifting his sword before he had moved for the first time in the match.

Dart mimicked him, eyes narrowed as he readied to meet him halfway.

"It's time." Lloyd decided, launching into a sprint to meet Dart.

Dart was racing just the same as Lloyd. But before he could do anything more than raise his sword up as he neared, it was already over.

In a blur Lloyd was on him, slicing him one good time through his stomach, and then he was behind him. Lloyd smiled to himself, standing up from his crouched position and wiped his hair from his face. "Humph." He acted indifferent, walking toward the exit before the match was even called.

Dart stood bent over for a moment, in shock, before the agonizing ache smacked him hard and he crumpled to his knees. And he knew he no longer had the strength to fight. His will was sapped dry as well since thinking too hard would trigger a transformation. And that would be worse than losing.

**...**

After being tended to, the three placers were hurried back out into the arena for what they called proper recognition. Ginger was the announcer as the three stood between two Serdian knights. "Here are the results of the annual Endiness Hero Competition!" She waved her arms about wildly as the cheers of the crowd intensified. "The victor is the Platinum-haired swordsman, Lloyd, the toughest and strongest man in all of Endiness!" Ginger directed her hands to Lloyd as the cheers grew louder still.

Lloyd barely reacted to the cheers, just stared up into the crowd as if searching for something.

"Second is Dart the 'Young Flame'!" She exclaimed, running over to the front of Dart to point him out as she had Lloyd.

Dart was a bit more enthusiastic about his place than Lloyd. He waved his arms at the crowd in acceptance of their cheers.

"And third place goes to Haschel, the 'Master of the Rouge Art'!" She ran over to Haschel's side the same as the other two.

Haschel thrust a hand into the air with pride, beaming. He didn't care if it was only third. It was still something to be proud of.

Once back in the waiting room Dart made sure to approach Lloyd, not at all bitter about his loss. "I was totally defeated." Dart chuckled, speaking to Lloyd's back for what he hoped would be only a moment.

Lloyd remained expressionless, turning about to face the second place holder. "You haven't reached your limits." He said simply with a small shrug. "You will be stronger. You will have to be."

Dart smiled widely at this. Such a thing coming from such a great warrior meant quite a bit to him. Heck, he had to be a good judge of character if he could fight so well. "Thanks."

Lloyd nodded faintly, looking to Haschel who stood idly beside Dart. "You too. You'll become stronger." He decided with one look.

Haschel laughed, waving the compliment away. "You flatter me."

The sound of footsteps echoed around the tiny space as someone descended the stairs at a fast pace. "Come out quickly." Lavitz cried, waving backward animatedly. "Everybody is waiting for you, Dart." He had honestly been waiting the most. That was why he was here now. "In particular, Shana!" He poked fun, nudging him in the side.

Dart playfully shoved him away, grinning despite himself.

Lavitz cleared his throat as he forced himself not to laugh, turning his attention to the platinum haired victor. "I watched your match with Dart." He pointed back to the arena. "I would love to have a match with you if this were a time of peace."

Lloyd scoffed at him, hand on his hip. "Sorry, but you are no match for me."

Lavitz grimaced faintly. "It's hard to take, but it must be true." He sighed in acceptance. "But someday, if we meet, please accept my challenge." His eyes were wide with hope before he thought to add as if it would seal the deal. "I'll be stronger too." He nodded firmly.

Lloyd frowned ever so slightly, looking to the ceiling before he brought his eyes back to Lavitz and decided, "I'll think about it." Then he dubbed the conversation over and promptly walked past Lavitz back up the stairs to the surface.

Dart stared until he could no longer see him, in awe of even the way he moved when out of combat. "It's not only you, Lavitz, who needs more discipline." He shook his head faintly, looking back to his friend. "I couldn't keep up with him either."

Haschel belly laughed at himself as he too agreed. "Me neither."

Lavitz perked at the sound of Haschel's voice, not having realized he was here as well. "You must be Master Haschel of the Rouge School."

"Oh!" Dart jumped to attention, hitting himself in the head lightly. "I didn't introduce you to everybody yet!" He was excited just thinking about it. "Why don't we go outside?" He motioned up the stairs, hurrying halfway up them before he twisted half of his body around to make sure they were following. "I want you to meet my friends."

Haschel stroked his chin, an amused smile forming. "Interesting…" He mused. "The lone wolf Dart has 'friends'? Let me see your friends!" He eagerly followed Dart. When he'd known Dart last he had had no friends. So he wondered who Dart's type was. This would be fun.

**I actually reread this chapter before posting it, and wow. The fights suck! I don't know if it's because I had to not kill any of these characters or what, but I feel like they were really bad. x.x I hope that it isn't all of my fights in the book that are this bad. You'd tell me if they all sucked, right?**

**Well, I hope you liked it anyway. Lloyd has come! Dun, dun, dun! Please review! :)**


	14. A Little Down Time

**I figured that as I work on the next chapter of my Tahorra story I could update this. I already have this whole story written after all. It's not like it takes much effort.**

Dart raced to the entrance of the carnival, eager to see Shana's face and know what she thought of his matches. That and he would like to see if she could give him a speedy heal of his wounds that the attendants had tried to patch up. Although he figured she wasn't skilled enough yet to do so. "Shana!" He cried as he saw her, smiling brightly.

Shana perked instantly, waving with unbound energy. "Dart!" A certain life was even added to her light brown eyes upon seeing him.

Dart slowed until he stood right in front of her and Rose. "Hey."

Shana grinned from ear to ear, running her foot in circles in the dirt as she muttered shyly, "Congratulations on second place."

Dart nodded. "Thanks." He sighed softly after the word passed his lips. "I wish I could have won first prize for you though."

Shana shook her head. "It's okay, Dart. You looked very cool!" She assured, shrugging her shoulders faintly. "Besides…" she clasped her hands at her waist to create the perfect image of innocence. "…just having you safe is enough for me."

Rose leaned back against a wall, finding it was best if she didn't say anything at all. She knew if she dared she'd only end up criticizing which might not affect Dart, but it would definitely make his sweetheart mad.

"Oh, this person is…?" Shana finally noticed Haschel who had been standing by Dart for a minute or two now.

Haschel chuckled at her. "You only watched Dart, did you?" He raised a brow, poking fun. "Oh well." He laughed again. "Don't worry. It's universal, girls in love are blind!"

Shana grinned sheepishly. So even this man could tell? How sad.

Dart waved his hands frantically. "No, it's not that." He insisted, the tiniest hint of a blush finding its way to the surface.

Shana giggled softly as Dart grew the slightest bit embarrassed.

Dart sighed, rubbing his head. "You haven't changed, Haschel." He looked to Lavitz and then to the girls, pointing at Haschel. "He's never serious except when he's fighting."

"Ah!" Haschel pretended to be offended. "It's not…" He sighed in defeat. "It's true." His face fell some then. "But the goal of my journey is a serious one. I am looking for my daughter who ran away."

Dart nodded, remembering. "It was about four years ago when we met." He informed them. "It was when I was on my quest pursuing the Black Monster."

Rose showed signs of mild surprise as she glanced over at Dart, mumbling to herself, "Black…Monster." So he was a survivor.

Haschel noticed Rose finally then. "The tootsie over there is your friend too?" He nodded to her, flashing her a charming smile.

Rose's eyes instantly narrowed into thin slits, mouth curved into a sharp snarl. "Don't 'tootsie' me. My name is Rose." She said through clenched teeth.

Haschel's smug smile immediately fell from his face and he quickly turned his attention to the only other girl. "Well, which one is Dart's sweetheart?" He said in nonchalance, figuring one must be as he hoped deep down Rose was the one. This other girl seemed much nicer.

Dart started, spinning about to face Haschel in a hurry. "Wha-What are you talking about!" His eyes were wide and pulse rapid. "Besides," he said more calmly, "I told you about Shana many times!"

Haschel raised a brow at him. "Did you?" He shrugged as to say ok. "So, you still think of her as your baby sister then?"

Dart glared at him. "Stop that." He hit him lightly.

Lavitz had been formulating a plan as the others conversed, finally fitting the final pieces into place. "Hey Dart…" he walked over closer. "Here's the plan. Why don't you go around the arena just with Shana?" He swallowed a bit as he forced himself to say the rest. "Then, I can go out with Rose."

Rose's eyes grew exponentially larger and she found it hard to formulate a response of any kind. "What?" She managed.

Lavitz pretended not to hear her, grabbing onto her wrist with little care to half drag her along the dirt road away from Shana and Dart.

Rose's instinct to being touched instantly kicked in and she jerked her arm away from him before smacking him swiftly in the side of the head. "Why do I have to go with you?" She hissed in severe irritation.

Lavitz rubbed his head tenderly as he slowly got to his knees and then to his feet. "Just pretending." He whispered. "Really." He swore almost pitifully as he prayed she wouldn't hit him again.

The others just sort of stared as it all went down, reactions ranging from utter shock to high amusement. Dart was the first to snap out of it. "What do you think?" He shrugged, pulling his gaze from the odd pair to meet Shana's eyes.

Shana smiled sweetly, head tilted some. "Dart…it's a good chance. Can we do it?" He should have known she would have died to get such an opportunity. It was more a question of whether or not he was willing.

Dart didn't know. He knew what Lavitz was trying to do here, hook them up. But Dart wasn't sure if he really wanted such a thing. Shana was still just his baby sister; to be anything more seemed off…out of place in what he would like to be a perfect world. And once they crossed the line, would there be any going back?

Haschel saw the indecision written all over Dart's face and could scarcely believe him. If he were in his shoes he knew what he'd do. And at that thought he grinned slyly. "Shall we go?" He offered, hooking his arm around hers and started to walk off.

Lavitz gawked at him an instant before snapping, "I didn't mean you, Master Haschel!" His new scowl fully showed his disapproval. Heck, if it wasn't going to be Dart it would be him! Not Haschel!

Haschel frowned, turning back around. "Oh yeah?" He feigned innocence. "It seems Dart can not make up his mind so I thought I could do it for him." He said simply, unable to hide his bright smile.

Dart shrugged, rubbing his head in slight nervousness. "I guess."

Lavitz grinned in triumph, handing him a handful of tickets he'd thought to buy before running off to get him. "Here. Play some games."

Dart then moved over to Shana's side. "We haven't had any time to relax. So…shall we?"

Shana's face brightened as it had when he'd first approached them. "Yes!" She nodded once fervently.

Dart couldn't help but smile at her as she grew so happy, even if he didn't quite share the sentiments. If it made her happy he'd do it. He'd just have to get back at Lavitz for this later is all.

Shana skipped along as they left the other three behind, a sweet serenity wrapping itself around her and blocking out all other noises but those made by them. "So, where to first?" She finally piped up, eyes gleaming with interest.

Dart shrugged in indifference. "Where ever you want to go." He smiled softly at her. Honestly he didn't want to be playing stupid carnival games. Only Shana could get him to.

"Hmm…" Shana tapped her chin thoughtfully. "How about that one?" She pointed her hand like a gun at it.

Dart followed her finger to the right stand. It was the one with the three men and their strange hats. He sighed. Well, if she wanted to then more power to her. "Ok."

Shana latched on to his wrist. "Come on then!" She laughed, dragging him as best she could over to her choice. She could hardly wait.

Dart rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm, allowing her to pull him along by not resisting until they reached the stand in a matter of seconds.

"Alright!" She cheered. "So how do you play?" She asked sweet as honey to the man at the stand.

"I'll be happy to explain." He nodded.

Oh, sure. See a pretty face and you'd do anything. Dart didn't like this one bit no matter if the guy was just doing his job or not.

"You try to find the man!" He said vaguely.

"The man?" Shana cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Each of these men have on hats, see? And underneath one of their hats is a bird." He paused to let this sink in. "Well, anyway, I'll show you which one at the start but then it's up to you to remember where it is once they move around."

"Oh!" Shana thought it was an absolutely fantastic game. "Ok! Do it Dart!"

Dart started slightly. "What?"

Shana laughed. "Find the bird for me." She said simply, smiling sweetly up at him.

Dart frowned at her. "What? Why do I have to do it? I'm not the one who wants to play!" Dart argued in an almost whiney tone. Listening to himself after the words left his mouth he had to say that he sounded like a five year old to be perfectly honest.

Shana scowled faintly at Dart, mimicking how she'd seen Rose look at him once before when she wasn't pleased with what he'd done. "Come on! You can't just follow me! You have to play too!"

Dart searched for a reason he actually didn't have to do it. "Look, I'll play the next one, ok?" He tried, shrugging his hands.

Shana didn't think about it at all, she downright refused. "No." She sighed irritably. "Dart…this is supposed to be fun…" She mumbled, averting her eyes as she felt them become wet with potential tears.

Dart felt immediate grief wash over him, and he sighed, "Fine. I'll play." This was why she was better as his sister. Significant others don't have the ability to sway your ways with a tearful look, at least they didn't in Dart's mind. He thought that position was only to a sister, one who was so incredibly close to him.

Shana wiped at her eyes fervently, nodding faintly. "Ok." She perked to add, "And I'll help!"

Dart smiled a small smile as she offered, turning back to the man at the stand. "One ticket right?" Dart extended his hand out to place the ticket in the man's hand.

"Yes!" The man nodded his whole upper half of his body. "Have fun!" He snapped his fingers and the three men who had been sitting idly popped up to their feet, each lifting their hats up. The one at the right had it. And then they began to scurry around in a dizzying manner. It didn't help every aspect of their clothes were identical either.

The man snapped his fingers again and they scrambled to line up side by side.

Dart took this to mean he was supposed to guess now. "Um…" he tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know." He leaned in some as if this would help.

Shana laughed softly at Dart and his odd behavior. Even if he claimed to not want to play he was obviously getting more into it than he thought he would. This was something Shana loved about him.

"I guess the left one?" He shrugged, looking to Shana for confirmation.

Shana shrugged the same as him. "I lost track." She admitted.

All three men lifted up their hats, revealing the man in the center to be the one with the birdie. "Aw." The man sighed in false sympathy. "Sorry. You'll have to try again later I suppose."

Dart grumbled incoherent words beneath his breath as they walked away from the stand to find another.

Shana held her head lightly after a couple of steps. "I feel kinda dizzy." She admitted, looking up at Dart to find out his sentiments on the matter.

Dart snorted. "It's my kind of game." He completely forgot how at the start he had wanted nothing to do with it. "It's like a battle."

Shana didn't know what to say to this, so she said nothing. She hated how he always managed to turn things that were supposed to be fun into having to do with stupid fighting. It was top on the list too. Why couldn't he just relax and enjoy things for what they were? More importantly why couldn't he at least pretend that this was romantic?

The silence lingering in the air between them was grating on Dart's nerves. He didn't like it when she was so quiet and they were somewhere she wanted to be, doing something she was supposed to enjoy. So Dart stirred up the conversation some, rubbing his head. "So…what do you want to do next?"

Shana smiled again as he took the initiative. "Um…anything you want Dart!" She clasped her hands at her chest as they continued walking. "I am just happy to be alone with you." She sighed in content.

Dart couldn't help but smile with equal passion down at her. He so loved her smile, it had an enlightening effect on him. "Let's go look for another place then." He muttered gently.

"Ok." She cheered. "Let's go here then." She steered him over to another stand.

Dart was expecting to get another game like the birdie one, so when he bothered to take in the appearance he was pleasantly surprised. It was the stand with the fake nature setup made of cardboard. He was amazed that Shana had actually picked something he might get to throw objects in. He smirked unconsciously. "Cool."

"How does this one work?" Shana asked as she had before.

The man was happy to reply. He had had no participants all day. "You throw the balls and conquer the monsters!" He cried with undue enthusiasm, his hands acting as fireworks and popping open. "One ticket will make you a warrior!"

Dart raised a brow at this strange man. "And…?"

The man lost some of his spark at this. "And? And what? It's not complicated." He scoffed. "You throw these balls." He said slowly, pointing in slow motion as well. "At those monsters when they pop up from the holes or out from behind the scenery."

Dart growled lightly under his breath. He didn't like this guy one tiny bit. He was acting as if he was stupid or something. Which he wasn't. He got the concept; he meant what were the prizes. At the other stand he had just wanted to get away too much at the beginning to bother asking, but now he wanted to know. "No, the prizes."

The man rolled his eyes, disliking Dart as much as Dart did him. "Sorry, there aren't any prizes." He relished in the fact this would make Dart angry.

Dart, as he suspected, was angry. "What kind of game doesn't have a prize!" He threw his hands into the air in disbelief.

"This one." He retorted, crossing his arms.

"And you'd be the only one!"

"Dart…" Shana whined, pulling on his arm to try and get him away from this stand. They obviously weren't going to have any fun here. "Let's go somewhere else."

"No." Dart said firmly through clenched teeth. "I'm gonna play." He slapped a ticket down hard into the man's hand, glaring daggers into him all the while.

Shana backed up some, frowning deeply as she watched Dart sink back into his mindset of forgetting this was a date of the sorts and focusing only on winning this 'battle'.

The man set a bucket of rocks on the stand for Dart to chuck at the creatures that popped out. "Good luck." He said through clenched teeth.

"I don't need it." Dart sneered, picking up the first rock and tossing it gently in his hand.

The man snorted, rolling his eyes as he flipped the switch and everything burst to life. Small cardboard creatures sprung out from the holes on the set and peeked out from behind the rocks and trees. Some sort of sound effect was even making it sound as if the creatures were laughing.

Dart hurled one rock after another at the creatures, arms moving like a pinwheel in superfast motion. The strength behind his throw was increased tenfold like his speed as he pretended that the stupid game manager's head was on all of the creatures. The thought also made him smirk devilishly.

All Shana could do was stand back and sigh sadly to herself, hoping someone would notice and make her feel better. Someone like Lavitz. Thinking of him made her smile despite herself for a fraction of a second before Dart's voice cut through the air.

"Yeah! Eat it!" Dart yelled, hitting another one square in the face to bring his count up to fifty.

The man at the stand growled at how well Dart was doing in the time frame. So he decided he'd flip the switch up a notch to heighten the speed of his cardboard creatures.

Shana sighed again, thinking about wandering off to go do something on her own. Maybe she'd even go see what Rose was doing over there. In fact…

"You cheater!" Dart snapped, slamming his last rock against the stand as his game ended. "You did something! Now tell me what it is!"

The man smirked deviously. "Nope. It's all part of the game." He insisted.

"Liar!"

That's all Shana heard because it was that moment she decided that she'd had enough. She simply walked away from the two idiot men in search of a source of either entertainment or soothing. Unfortunately all she found was Rose.

Rose was leaned back against the side of one of the stands, looking as cool and indifferent as ever. Her eyes were bottomless pits of brooding beauty.

Shana timidly approached her, biting at her nails nervously. "Rose…?"

Rose lazily looked up, brow rising as she realized who it was. "Shana…" her flat line mouth turned into a slight frown. "Aren't you supposed to be doing something…somewhere else?" She didn't mean for it to sound curt, but it was something she couldn't help. She honestly wanted to know what had gone wrong.

Shana sighed bitterly, eyes locked on the ground at her feet. "Yeah…but Dart, he just…" she couldn't bear to say it out loud, not to Rose. She didn't trust her to feel sorry for her or comfort her at all.

Rose rolled her eyes, not moving from her spot. "Guys aren't worth it." She scoffed. "Don't be a baby and cry about it."

Shana felt her lip quiver. She knew she had made a mistake talking to her. She knew she wouldn't be able to act sensitive for even the slightest fraction of a second. It wasn't in her nature. "O-Ok…" she managed to squeeze out, biting her lip as she went off back toward Dart.

Dart had finished his fight now and turned to grab Shana. "Let's go, I'm tired of this-" he stopped short, eyes growing the size of bowling balls as he realized Shana no longer stood next to him. "Shana?" he said with ever growing fear. "Shana? Where are you!"

Shana thought she heard Dart's voice calling for her as she slowly returned to where he'd been fighting with that stand owner. But she didn't care for once. For once she was too distracted by her hurt feelings to care to any degree about him. Did that make her a bad person?

"Shana!" Dart cried out for him, a fear gripping him even though they were in no particular danger in this place.

Shana slowly raised her head up to see if she saw him coming toward her, but she did not yet. So she went on walking, changing her course to the exit of this stupid carnival. Maybe then she'd find Lavitz who she desperately needed in the moment.

Lavitz perked as he heard footsteps, smiling as he saw it was Shana. "Hey." He chirped, brow furrowing as he noticed Dart was missing. "Where is…?"

Shana turned her head away from him, biting her lip in order to remain calm.

"Shana!" Dart cried for the umpteenth time, sighing heavily as he saw her standing with Lavitz. "Shana! What are you doing? You scared me to death."

Shana looked sadly at him. "I was just looking around a bit more." She murmured unconvincingly, offering an equally fake smile to boot.

"Oh…ok." Dart didn't even think to question the sincerity of her words. He trusted her.

Lavitz did a mental face palm, seeing that this alone time had gone horribly awry. He sighed outwardly, rubbing his temples some as he tried to think of a way to fix this mess. "Well…" he started to say, changing course as he decided based on her expression she was no longer in the mood to play games. "Are you ok with this much time then?"

Shana nodded slowly, pained look never fading.

Upon seeing Shana's answer Dart answered without fear of her resenting his choice. "I got enough."

Lavitz scowled lightly at Dart's choice of words, expression turning soft as he looked back to Shana. "Had some fun?" He asked gently.

"Yes." She muttered near inaudibly. "Thank you, Lavitz." She couldn't say what she wanted to with Dart standing right next to her. If she did she'd just end up hurting him and she hated such a thought.

Lavitz's eyes held the sorrow he felt for her even though his words carefully hide the feeling while Dart was here. "I'm glad."

Dart quickly moved on from the situation, still blind to the fact Shana was sad because of how he had acted previously. "Now, we gotta get back to Bale!" He said with enthusiasm, arms crossed over his chest. "Otherwise, we'll be late with our report to King Albert." A broad smiled showed on his face.

Lavitz sighed in disbelief as he rubbed his held his head like it were hurting him because of Dart's behavior. "Dart, come this way." He shook his head, waving Dart on to the outside of the carnival area to so he could talk to him alone.

Dart shrugged, following him out with a half-smile now. "What is it?"

Lavitz felt much more at ease without Shana there to listen and look on with her awfully sad eyes. "Did you do something about it?" He then sighed with faint irritation.

Dart made a face at Lavitz that said, 'What are you talking about?' "I didn't do anything." He chuckled without any real pleasure or amusement.

"Nothing?" Lavitz shook his head in disapproval. "You didn't even take her hand?" He couldn't believe Dart. He had practically set them up for something, even the tiniest of moments. Yet Dart always seemed to ruin it one way or another.

Dart sighed, hanging his head to a degree. "Shana is not a baby anymore." He looked sadly up as he voiced this fact. "I don't need to go hand in hand."

Lavitz rubbed his temples, hand holding the elbow of this arm. "Dart, are you getting what I am talking about?" He better get it.

Dart sighed again. "I guess." He shrugged his shoulders. "But Shana is like a baby sister to me." He tilted his head to look back into the arena. "I can not change that."

Lavitz's frown deepened. "I don't think Shana thinks that way." He stated quite bluntly in case Dart truly didn't see it.

Dart averted his eyes, nearly hating himself as he spoke of what had been on his mind since the day he returned. "When the war ends…I gotta go on my journey again to pursue the Black Monster." He tentatively looked over at Lavitz to gauge his reaction. "And I don't want her to be involved in that."

"Dart." Lavitz growled sternly, expecting him to listen closely with every ounce of his being. "Revenge doesn't solve anything."

Dart frowned, looking away again. If it was so then why did his hatred for the beast burn deeper with each passing day he lived.

Lavitz saw the hatred in the depths of Dart's eyes and pressed the issue. "I learned that from the death of Greham, the guy who betrayed my father, the guy who defected to the Sandora…the guy I hated. He said the last bit with a sad bitterness for both his father and, in the end, Greham.

Dart knew the feelings that Lavitz was experiencing better than anyone in the world. But their situations weren't the same. Lavitz was able to say this because he had exacted his revenge already. If Dart had asked him before then he knew Lavitz would have been singing a different tune.

Lavitz sighed softly, close to giving up. But not yet. "The person you should be looking for is not in your past. Right? You should pay attention to the present."

Despite his disagreement with all he had said, Dart couldn't help but smile a little. Lavitz was so persistent it was funny.

Lavitz couldn't think of any other way to put what Dart needed to do, so he finished with a shrug and a joke. "I'll accept a couple of drinks for this advice." He playfully nudged Dart in the side. "When the war ends, let's have a drink in Bale." He smiled as he turned about and headed back into the tent.

"H- Hey!" Dart stuttered, reaching out after Lavitz to have him stay. "Wait! Lavitz…" he had just thought of a good argument too.

Lavitz was surprised as he didn't see Shana right away. Had she disappeared on them again? She really needed to not do that. Even if it wasn't as dangerous as out in the forest there was still no telling what wacky occurrences would trigger with them. They had terrible luck. "Shana?"

Shana was standing back against a stand a ways away from Lavitz, trying not to cry as she waited for a miracle. She wasn't too picky either, just anything to make her smile again. But somehow she didn't see that happening right now.

"Shana?" Lavitz didn't sound frantic, but he was a bit worried. She had looked pretty pitiful as she'd struggled to keep control of herself in front of them before.

Shana heard Lavitz's gentle voice and looked up from the ground lazily, hugging herself for comfort as she wondered whether she should follow the sound of his voice to him or let him find her by chance. If he didn't give up then that meant he wanted to find her more than anything. And...she wanted to know if it were so.

Lavitz was becoming increasingly concerned about her whereabouts when he saw her standing alone in the corner with that same depressed look ruining her perfect features. He sighed in half relief half bitterness as he trotted up to her, showing a flash of teeth in his forced smile as he got close enough. "Hey…"

Shana pretended she didn't hear him in hopes that treating Lavitz how she'd been treated would make her feel better somehow.

Lavitz wasn't bothered in the least. "Come on, Shana." He extended his hand out for her take. "Let's sit." He didn't want to tell her that she had to tell him what had happened because he knew forcing a woman, any woman, to do something only made them want to do it less.

Shana didn't move for a moment, staring a hole into his hand. It was only as she thought she heard someone, probably Dart, coming back into the area that she changed her mind. She tentatively took his hand in hers and gave him permission to go with her.

Lavitz, however, didn't move. "Go where you want."

Shana cringed at these words. Dart had said the same thing, but their time together had ended so badly. She was rather afraid now would be the same.

Lavitz rubbed the back of her hand gently with his thumb. It was his way of attempting to soothe her to a degree. And it was also the safest way to do so. This way Dart wouldn't think he was being odd, even if he claimed to not think of Shana that way. Lavitz knew seeing he was losing his chance would ignite a fire within Dart.

Shana liked the feel of his skin moving as it was across hers. She actually found herself breathing easier thanks to the motion. And it was enough to get her to start leading Lavitz along to a nice quiet spot where they could be alone.

As they went they passed where Rose still stood up against the stand.

At first Rose didn't seem to care or even acknowledge what they were doing. It was after she did a double take to be sure what she saw had been real that she gave them a questioning look. She thought Shana was supposed to be Darts. What the heck?

Shana slowed as they came to a vacant bench at the rear of the place. There was not a soul within eyesight around the place either. This was perfect. So without a word Shana plopped down on the bench, expecting Lavitz to do the same.

Lavitz did, taking his hand back from her and putting them in his lap. "So, what's up?" He sounded so nonchalant to Shana that it was unreal.

Shana knew he knew what was bugging her, so there was no reason for him to be this way about it. "You know." She grumbled.

Lavitz shrugged. "Sort of. But I don't really know." He gave her the choice of expanding on the details or leaving things as they were. He was pretty sure he knew what she would do though.

Shana bit her lip as she tried to find the right way to say this. Even without Dart around, she still felt bad down talking him. "Dart…he was just him." She chuckled in a pained sounding way, burying her face in her hands.

Lavitz sighed softly, looking down at his feet for a minute before he tried to defend Dart. "He doesn't mean to hurt you."

"I know…" she whined between her fingers. "But…he still does." She swallowed hard, trying to force the sobs to stay dormant. "Especially today."

Lavitz grimaced. "What happened?" He whispered, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him.

"Nothing good." She moaned. "First he didn't want to play the game I chose…then he fought with the guy at the next one…and-and…he couldn't stop looking at it all as a battle."

Lavitz figured it was something like that.

"I know it's not his fault." She shook her head slowly back and forth, wiping fervently at her eyes. "But you'd think that after so long he'd be able to understand a woman, understand me."

Lavitz wrapped his other arm around her front, hugging her warmly. "You just have to keep trying. Eventually he'll get it."

Shana felt a shiver run down her spine as she felt his breath on her neck. It was a strange feeling that somehow calmed her as much as it made her uneasy. She even felt like her tears which had been so close to falling were receding now. "Maybe." She supposed, nestling her head into the crook of his neck. "But what if I get tired of trying?"

Lavitz wasn't sure what to make of her choice of words, picking the words to his reply very carefully. "If you love him you won't."

Shana smiled wryly. "What if…there's someone else?" She looked sweetly up at Lavitz, acting as if this was a normal conversation in which she was speaking of someone else entirely.

Lavitz started, catching his breath as he looked back down at her with uncertainty in his green eyes.

"And…what if he gives me the attention I crave without me asking? Then what?" She shifted out from Lavitz's neck so that she was sitting up straight and looking straight on in the eye, his arms moving from around her back to his sides.

"I…" Lavitz swallowed hard, trying his best to go along with this the way he knew he should. "I guess you'd have to choose then. Are you happy chasing Dart? Or would you rather have someone who would love you the way you want to be loved?" It was getting weird talking about himself in third person. He wanted this charade to end.

"I don't know." She admitted, her hands placed one on top of the other in her lap as she tilted her head up some. "But I'd have to be sure the guy I was giving Dart up for felt the same. Otherwise…I'd lose it all."

Lavitz smirked faintly, moving a tentative hand up to rest on the side of her face so he could gently rub her cheek with his thumb. "I doubt that's an issue."

Shana's gaze was tender as he spoke these words and she smiled lovingly up at him. "I'm glad." She breathed, raising a hand to lay on top of Lavitz's.

Lavitz's hand slipped from beneath hers down to her chin so he could tilt it up further. "So…?"

"I think…" Shana had a split second instance where she thought on how this would affect Dart, but just as quickly as it had come it was gone again. "…I choose to be happy now." Shana leaned up for him, eyes closed before contact was made.

Lavitz leaned down to meet her halfway, lips locking with hers in a moment's time for a kiss.

Shana felt electricity jump between their lips and an unimaginably blissful sensation snake its way through her whole body instantly. She felt tingly, numb even, as she experienced her first ever kiss.

Lavitz shared her feelings, this being his first kiss as well. And he had to say it was absolutely perfect. Gentle, yet so full of passion it was unreal.

Shana slowly moved her arms around Lavitz's neck as the kiss deepened, pressing her body up against him as well.

Lavitz had his arms around her waist soon after he felt her hands on his neck, eating up every ounce of the moment.

Just as soon as it began it was over again as they were forced to break apart for air. Still, they weren't too sad about it. They were simply happy to have shared this moment together.

"That was…" Lavitz went to say something, but the words died on his lips as he realized he didn't know how to describe what had just transpired.

"Nice." Shana finished for him, smiling brightly up at him as she took her arms back from him and scooted over some.

"Yeah." Lavitz nodded. Sure, he'd go with that. "Oh!" He perked, digging in his pockets all of a sudden.

Shana watched him with a 'what the hell' kind of look. "What are you doing?"

"Ah-ha!" He cried triumphantly, pulling from his pocket two lengthy strings.

Shana stared blankly. "Um…string?" She laughed.

Lavitz shook his head. "Not just string." He wagged his finger at her. "Now let me see your Dragoon Spirit. He held out his hand to receive the item.

Shana shrugged. "Ok." She dug through her own pocket, finding what she required much quicker than he did his. "Here."

Lavitz caught it in the palm of his hand, looping the string through the hole in it and tied the two ends of the one string together. "Tada!" he presented it to her. "See? Now you can have it like Dart and Rose. Easy access."

Shana chuckled. "Thanks. It's nice."

Lavitz beamed, slipping the necklace around her head for her. "There." He then went to working fast to do the same with his Dragoon Spirit. "And for me." He put his own on, finding it rather stupid looking. But it was much easier to mess with, as he'd told Shana a moment ago.

Shana flipped her Dragoon Spirit around between her fingers as she stared contentedly at Lavitz. "Thanks again, and not just for the necklace."

Lavitz grinned. "No problem. I'd do anything for you."

Shana blushed lightly, leaning in quick to kiss him again.

"Shana! Lavitz!" Dart's voice reached them, sounding a mixture of annoyed and worried.

Both jumped slightly in their skin at the sound of his voice, not having expected it. "Oh! It's Dart!" Shana jumped up into a standing position.

Lavitz frowned a bit, standing up more slowly beside her. "He probably wants to go on to Bale."

Shana nodded, sighing. "Yeah…probably."

But it wasn't Dart who they saw come around the corner first. It happened to be Rose.

"Rose!" Shana cried cheerfully, walking over to meet her along with Lavitz. "Is it time to go?"

"Yes." She said with clear irritation. "And please God go tell your other half to shut up. His yelling is driving me insane!" Her eyes were narrowed into slits and she was seething.

Shana stifled a laugh at Rose's appearance and behavior, knowing to cross her would be the end of all good times for quite a while. She might even slap her like she'd done to Lavitz.

Rose growled lightly under her breath and raised a brow as she noticed the sides of Shana's mouth twitching up and down constantly. She knew what it meant, but she also knew there was nothing she could do that wouldn't kill Shana for it.

"Shana!" Dart's voice came again, him flying into view an instant after. "Shana!" He cried this time in relief. "There you are." He hugged her briefly. "And you too Lavitz." He nodded to him.

Lavitz nodded back, only slightly nervous that Dart would somehow be able to tell what had happened previously and might not approve.

It was quiet for a minute as everyone looked from one to the other before Dart snapped out of it. "Well! It about time we go, don't you guys think?" He crossed his fingers behind him that Lavitz wouldn't jump on him again for wanting to leave rather than play games with Shana.

Lavitz shrugged in indifference. "Yeah, ok. King Albert is probably getting worried since we've been gone so long." He chuckled at the thought.

Dart's eager meter flew through the roof then. "Alright!" He did a fist pump. "Let's go!" And he was zipping away.

Rose rolled her eyes at him, following after at her own pace. She had no desire to race back to that town anyhow. It was so bland.

Lavitz and Shana brought up the rear, going even slower than Rose was. As they went Shana slipped her hand into his effortlessly, feeling as if nothing else really mattered at that moment.

Rose gazed lazily over her shoulder to see if the other two were coming or what. What she saw made her eyes widen marginally and became one of the few moments she could honestly say she was shocked. Lavitz and Shana…she certainly hadn't seen it coming.

By the time they neared the exit of the town everyone was walking in an even line and ready to make the long trek back to Bale.

Only as they went along there was suddenly a sharp scream of utter terror from a woman in a yellow dress. She scrambled like crazy away from the exit, nearly running Dart clear over.

"What the-" he broke off mid-sentence as he saw exactly what, his eyes growing wide.

Limping into the town with a arrows covering him and a spear protruding from his chest, visible from both the front and back, was a Bale soldier who was barely clinging to life. He groaned, reaching out for anyone at all, before he collapsed to the ground.

Lavitz jerked away from Shana, racing forward to kneel by the knight. "You-You are a knight of Basil!" He was frantic. "What has happened!"

The knight shakily lifted his head up off the ground to look at Lavitz with blurred vision. "Sir...Lavitz?" He could scarcely believe it, almost willing to bet he was losing it. "I'm…glad." He clutched at his heart, the searing pain of imminent death taking hold. "At least I won't die in vain…"

Lavitz's breathing had quickly elevated and his fear was climbing. "What's going on!" He demanded harshly, knowing it was too late for this soldier at this point. But that didn't mean it was too late for Bale!

The soldier struggled to get it all out in time. "Sandoras…surprised us with an attack…His Majesty Albert…is in captivity…" He moaned.

"What!" Lavitz snarled, eyes catching fire.

"The king...Hellena..." and his body went limp, heart stopping.

Lavitz sprung up, shaking his head back and forth in shock. "No…" he hissed, fists clenched at his side in shear loathing. "King Albert! I'll save you!" He shouted to the heavens, shooting into a run.

Dart started, jolting out of place to catch him. "Calm down Lavitz!" He snapped, twisting Lavitz's arms back behind him. "Pull yourself together!"

Lavitz struggled with all the power in him plus some to get away from Dart. "Let me go!" He snarled, kicking as a last resort. "I gotta go! King Albert!"

Suddenly Haschel was zipping down the road toward them, doing a stunning front flip over them to land directly in front of Lavitz. He did a swift turnabout upon landing to punch Lavitz hard in the gut.

Lavitz sucked in a sharp breath as he felt the air instantly leave his lungs. And in the next instant his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went limp in Dart's hold.

Shana gasped, hands flying to her mouth. "Oh my God!"

Haschel wiped his hands together, "Sorry about that." He chuckled, rubbing his head nervously. "But he was just going to hurt himself."

**...**

Lavitz's blank mind slowly came back to reality, his eyes slowly fluttering open to reveal the familiar scenery of the doctor's room. "I am…" he muttered, everything still a bit hazy. "King Albert!" He yelled, eyes shooting open as he snapped up into a sitting position.

Haschel firmly crossed his arms over his chest, sending an intense look at Lavitz. "You idiot!" He said sharply, shaking his head. "When knights lose self-control, their lord can not be saved."

Lavitz knew he was right, so he forced himself to twist around and up into a standing position more calmly than he intended to at first.

"And only you can save King Albert now." Haschel said matter of factly, stern look never fading.

Lavitz started; about to lose the little self-control he had all over again. Every muscle, bone, and tendon in his body was aching to kick it in to high drive and kill the sorry bastards who dared kidnap his king!

Haschel turned, walking to the opposite end of the room with his hands clasped behind his back. "While you were sleeping, I went to get a feel for the situation." He turned back to Lavitz, taking a seat on a stool to explain. "Bale is under occupation. So, I don't think the remaining knights can do anything."

Before Haschel could go on Lavitz burst out. "What about King Albert!"

Haschel didn't comment on his rudeness, knowing that when something was really important the mind focused solely on that. "He offered himself up as a captive so that the people in Basil could be safe." He answered simply.

Lavitz growled angrily, slamming his fist against the wall out to ease his frustration. "Just because I defeated a dragon…!" He snarled at himself. He hit the wall a second time. "Why was I all whooped up!"

Shana frowned deeply at seeing him in such distress. She hated it and automatically went over beside him, locking her arms around his lowered one. "It'll be ok." She soothed, resting her head on his shoulder.

Dart raised a brow as he watched Shana go to Lavitz's side and act so strange. He didn't understand what she was doing either. There was no need to be over there by him to reassure him of things turning out well. So…why?

Haschel shook his head, brushing off Shana's actions and Dart's reaction to it. "There is no time for procrastination." He growled firmly.

Dart nodded firmly. "There's no choice!" He cried fiercely, doing a fist pump. "We must venture forth to Hellena!"

"We are taking the king back, aren't we?" Haschel mused, knowing the answer.

"We still have time!" Shana insisted with extreme enthusiasm.

Rose scoffed at them, flipping the hair from her eyes. "If you are going to go, make up your mind quickly." She hated sitting around idly when there was work to be done just as much as she hated people who sat around and talked about doing something instead of just doing it.

A certain tainted light came to Lavitz's eyes at all this support. "Yeah! That's right!" He smirked devilishly. We are still here!" Then an idea struck him as he moved an arm around Shana's waist. "But how about you, Master Haschel?" He asked with genuine interest.

Haschel shrugged, smiling faintly. "I've gone so far, I might as well just go too." He chuckled.

Lavitz's brow furrowed slightly. "What about your daughter?"

Haschel waved the notion away with a hand. "Don't worry about it. I have already been looking for her for twenty years." He grimaced at saying the length in which he had searched fruitlessly. "Going with you for a little while won't make any difference." He sighed.

Lavitz sighed in gratitude, bowing his head some. "Master Haschel, I can not thank you enough."

Haschel chuckled. "Don't worry about it." He thought of something then as he replayed Lavitz's words. "But can you call me just Haschel?" He cocked his head to the side some. "Master Haschel makes me feel…uneasy." Old was more like it. "That includes you too, Shana." He snickered.

"Okay, Haschel!" Shana said cheerfully.

Haschel sighed in content, loving the sound of Shana saying his name. "It feels good to be called by my first name by a young girl."

Rose was getting tired of sitting here. Were they going or not?

"Now!" Lavitz snapped back into furious fighting mode, a snarl set on his lips and eyes burning angrily. "Let's head for Hellena!"

Dart turned swiftly on his heel, the first out followed shortly by Lavitz and Shana who still held onto each other. Haschel was right on their heels too, Rose the last to go. She turned slowly around and walked out the door, only running to catch up after she saw everyone else was out of her sights.

The doctor found himself to be rather depressed by such violent choices. Still, it did mean one good thing. "I'll have lots of things to do."

**I'm afraid this story kind of sucks. Like, I like it and all, but the way the paragraphs are so short bugs me. Like a lot. What do you think? Idk. Also - LavitzxShana because I can! Sorry, I had to say it. Well, review!**


	15. Back to Hell

**Here's another chapter. I hope you all like it. I didn't reread it, so I guess I still like it. Please tell me about any gaping mistakes. Enjoy!**

They made it back to Hellena much faster than Dart thought was possible. Apparently there was a shortcut around Volcano Villude that led straight there. And although Dart wondered at first why they'd spent so much time going over the volcano in the first place he now understood that it was not accessible from Hoax. So at that point backtracking would have been pointless.

Dart also noticed along the way that they passed a large citadel that seemed encompassed by dark ominous clouds and held a distinct feel of fear and turmoil. But that was not their objective now. Right now they aimed to raid on Hellena and rescue the king. And they would not fail!

As they came to the desolate patch of land set on the ocean Lavitz was in the lead, charging just as fast as he'd been the whole journey without bothering to stop and devise a plan. All he thought of was saving his king. Only that mattered.

Still, Dart couldn't help but try to convince him. "We need a plan!" He insisted for the millionth time since the start.

"No! We don't have time for a plan!" Lavitz snapped.

"Lavitz!" Shana tried to protest, hoping he might listen to her if Dart's arguing wasn't good enough for him. "Come on-"

"Shana. Don't." He growled harshly, jerking his head around to bore a hole into her with his eyes.

Shana shrunk back, coming closer to Dart. She had never seen Lavitz so worked up. It was rather unnerving and frightening for her.

The bridge was within their sights at this point and there was a caravan crossing over it just as there had been when Dart had made his infiltration. Only this time there was a hitch.

Dart gasped as the bridge was quickly being raised after the caravan. "The bridge is being raised!" He cried in alarm, face frantic.

Lavitz's expression turned vicious as these words hit the atmosphere and he had a burst of energy that allowed him to make it within close range of the bridge and jump with all that was in him to grasp onto the edge of it.

"Lavitz!" Dart yelled after him in shock, stopping short as he reached the end of the rocky path with everyone else as it met the moat circling the prison.

"It's nothing!" Lavitz insisted, shaking his head fervently as he struggled to pull himself up over the tip of the bridge. It was as the bridge was up erect that he finally got his body over and dropped down into the prison to find a way to let his friends in.

Dart, along with the others, were more worried than they'd admit that Lavitz would dupe them and go on to rescue the king on his own. After all, he was good friends with the guy. It wasn't just a loyalty issue.

Lavitz rushed through the place, heading straight to the crank that controlled the bridge, finding a guard sitting by it.

"Hey you!" The guard jumped, pulling out his spear in defense. "How'd you get in!"

Lavitz smirked sinisterly at the man, drawing his own weapon out. "It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that you're going to die now." And he charged him, ready to run him through.

The guard saw the darkness in this man's eyes and was instantly filled with fear, but he knew that he was guaranteed death if he ran. So he at least had to try, running at Lavitz with his spear raised.

Lavitz slammed his spear against the guard's weapon, the metal on metal clanging loudly.

The guard was thrust back, trying his hardest to push with equal strength.

Lavitz twisted his spear around the guard's, banging it hard enough from the angle to knock it all the way across the room.

The guard's eyes went wide as he stared hopelessly at the weapon and back at Lavitz and his smug smirk.

The instant the guard looked to Lavitz his weapon was an inch from him, and in the next Lavitz was digging it deep into his gut.

The guard sucked in a sharp breath, clutching at his stomach as he collapsed to his knees.

Lavitz could have killed him then, mercilessly bust his skull in with his weapon. But he decided he'd simply kick the bastard and let him bleed out on his own. He would save his hatred for the sorry leader of this charade. "Sayonara."

Dart and the others had heard the sound of clashing weapons from out there, signaling that Lavitz was fighting near the entrance. But it was only as the bridge started to lower itself again that they let out a breath that they hadn't even realized they'd been holding.

"Go!" Lavitz ordered as he approached the bridge to make sure they all heard and followed quickly behind him.

Dart immediately snapped to attention, yelling at the others, "Come on!" He then sprinted after Lavitz who had ran ahead the moment he was sure at least one of them had heard. He had to get to King Albert with or without them!

Meanwhile, far off on the opposite side of the prison, an egotistical Fruegel was keeping a close watch on his very valuable prisoner. He could actually do something with this one unlike that stupid Shana girl. Ransom, torture, or what have you. It was all up to him after that man of Doel's got what he wanted.

King Albert was down on his knees in the center of a fire pit which was filled with unburnable scraps and surrounded by rocks that were charred and blackened from years of use. His hands were tied tightly behind his back, his shirt had been removed, and he felt utterly hopeless. Who was he if he could not even help himself? How was he to save his people?

A couple of guards came in then at Fruegel's request to help watch over Albert. Not that it was necessary; Fruegel just wasn't willing to lose this catch to carelessness.

As they whispered something amongst each other Albert finally lifted his head up to look around himself. From what he saw the room was significantly larger than the others he'd passed through to get here, but the flooring was the same as the rest of the place just as the walling was too. There were two torches lit up to his left in front of a gaping hole in the wall. And from what Albert could tell it was more than likely used as a way to see out to sea, a window of the sorts. No normal prisoners were kept here.

But Albert knew he was nowhere near a normal captive. He was the definition of a goldmine.

Conversation had ceased between the three overseers now and Fruegel's attention was instantly drawn to the view of the sky through the hole. The sky was showing hints of the darkness of night coming to an end which Fruegel so desperately awaited. His eagerness overtook him then as well, a maniacal laughter erupting from his throat. "It will be dawn soon!" He cheered, staring Albert down. "I am such a nice guy aren't I?" He jeered, sinister smile forming on his lips as his laugh faded. "Letting you see the sun before you die!"

Albert sent an intense glare up at Fruegel before he jerked his head back down as it had been for hours, unwilling to look the evil man in the eye.

Fruegel found his dark pleasure to be slipping from him as Albert gave him the silent treatment. Even his smirk was turning itself down into a deep frown. "Say something!" He demanded, teeth bared, eyes ablaze, and club raised threateningly.

The warden on his left was taken aback some by the fact he was going to kill him. It wasn't that this was beyond Fruegel because he killed his own men a lot of times. It was Doel. "Bu-but the order says leave him alive."

Fruegel rounded on the man in a second flat. "Shut up!" He snarled, club held high over his head as if he might strike the guard. "When the sun rises…!" He glanced back at Albert then at the guard again. "This guy will be mine from that moment on!"

The guard shrunk to the size of an ant under Fruegel's intense anger, nodding fearfully to verify he was perfectly aware of the repercussions.

Fruegel spun around to face Albert, ordering him harshly, "King! Say something, huh!"

Albert snorted, not moving his body at all to give Fruegel the attention he seemed to crave. He did, however, say with an edge, "I don't have a means to speak with vulgar men."

Fruegel seethed with fury, inches from disregarding Doel's request. "And you will be killed by that 'vulgar' man!"

Albert couldn't help but glare up at him despite his best efforts to ignore the fiend in all aspects.

An idea came to Fruegel then as he caught Albert's eyes which made his smile darkly. "Well at least you are not alone." He thought back to the few remaining soldiers in Bale. "Those guys from Bale will come after you soon!"

Albert started, sucking in a soft breath. "How-How villainous! What about the promise not to hurt people!" This was the whole reason Albert had gone so easily. It was the only way.

Fruegel cackled as he watched Albert squirm. This was too much fun!

Albert growled lightly under his breath, trying to understand this deceit. He expected as much from Fruegel the immoral head warden, but he was not the one leading this. "I didn't know Doel had become so ruthless…" he moaned.

Fruegel calmed long enough to indulge his prisoner's obvious curiosity. "We just want your 'body'! I don't know the rest." He then broke back into a belly laugh.

The sound of hurried footsteps bounced around in the area, a warden showing up a few moments later. "Sir!" He heaved, breathing heavy. "Intruders are here! They are coming this way headed by Lavitz and a man in red armor!" His eyes were wide in anticipation of his next orders.

Albert caught his breath, lifting his head up some to look out toward the exit which seemed so very far away from him now. "Lavitz!"

Fruegel surprised them all by remaining strangely calm about the fact. Actually, he was rather pleased. "The head of the knights and the red one…" he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "…that's interesting." Fruegel turned his attention back on Albert as he continued, "They might be the saving stars for you."

Albert knew Fruegel had already begun scheming away at how he was going to dispose of Lavitz and his friends, he could tell by the glint in his eyes. He also knew Fruegel would never leave off with a positive comment.

Fruegel paced to the edge of the platform to look out at the barely there stars. "But you won't have a chance to see them." Fruegel turned around, pointing his club at Albert. "Both the stars and you will be gone when the sun rises!" His maniacal laughter overtook him then as he became consumed by the satisfaction of hurting people.

"Monster…" Albert hissed, falling into silent despair shortly after. Something bad was going to happen to them, he could feel it. He almost wished they hadn't come after him. Now they would get hurt too.

Lavitz knew the quickest way to where they needed to go was the way they'd gone to rescue Shana. That room where the key had been was the only room that he'd seen that hadn't been full of cells or a dead end hang out for the guards.

So Lavitz led the long stream of his friends up the stairs, slamming the guard who was an inch from blowing his alarm whistle down through the gaping hole. The guard smacked down quicker than he could scream, knocked unconscious on impact.

"Up the ladder!" Lavitz said needlessly, flying up the ladder and next set of stairs to get to the lift and reach the next level before them so that he could help pull them up as well as make it quicker if they had to go one by one.

"He sure gets bossy when he thinks he's the authority." Rose scoffed as she ran between Dart and Shana. But mostly she was speaking to Dart.

Yet as Dart went to respond Shana was the one who rebuked Rose. "He's just scared about them hurting King Albert."

Rose rolled her eyes at the fragile princess, leaning over to hiss in her ear. "Of course you would say that."

Shana started some. "W-What?"

Rose smirked faintly, eyes darting over to Dart for a split second before returning her attention to Shana. "I saw you and Mr. Personality." Rose stated flatly.

Shana ducked her head some in slight shame. It wasn't that she regretted what she'd done, because it had been pure bliss. She simply wasn't yet ready for Dart to find out because she still felt for him. "You can't tell Dart." She pleaded with sad eyes. "I…I'm not ready yet…" she sighed.

Rose shook her head some. "Whatever." She would never understand women and their crushes. It wouldn't be so bad if they could at least stick to one man like was intended. But no, they had to jump around, and wobble between them, and go after those who obviously didn't feel the same. It practically drove her mad.

Shana let out a breath in relief.

It was about that time that they all circled around the place where the lift normally would have been "Where is-" Dart was cut off by the sound of a loud bang as the lift with Lavitz in it plummeted and slammed back down to the ground at the center of where they stood.

"Damn it all!" Lavitz screeched to the heavens, punching the side of the lift as hard as he could.

Dart frowned deeply, the sign setting a few steps back catching his eye. "Hey…" he bent down some to read it. 'Out of order.' "How can a manual lift be out of order?" He scoffed, making a face.

This made Lavitz's anger flare up even more. "How the hell should I know! It's a piece of junk!" He snarled, kicking the machine as he stepped out of it.

Haschel decided he would have to be the mind of reason since no one else seemed willing to reprimand Lavitz. "Like in Lohan, you need to calm down. Acting like this won't help save anyone any faster. So use your head." Haschel gave him a stern look he might have given his daughter after she did something wrong.

Lavitz went to snap back, stopping only as he caught Shana's sad look and Dart's almost pleading one. Instead he sighed. "I don't know any other way."

"We'll just have to look is all." Dart shrugged. "Like we did with Shana."

Shana moved slightly over to Lavitz, wrapping her arms around his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. "It'll be ok." She promised.

Lavitz untensed greatly at her touch, not even wondering of what Dart might think of this.

Dart's brow furrowed as he saw Shana go to Lavitz, his mind not quite putting the pieces together. Something was different, but he didn't know what. But he was sure he didn't like it.

"What are you standing here for!" Lavitz snapped suddenly, anger filling his eyes all over again. "King Albert doesn't have forever!"

Everyone started as he snapped back into evil overlord mode, nodding fervently before running back the way they came.

Lavitz left Shana's side to hurry to the front and lead them. If something went wrong he wanted it to be his fault, that way he wouldn't get mad at his friends unintentionally.

Shana's eyes were sad as she sighed and slowly went after the rest of them. What was worse was now that Lavitz was focused on this there was no one to make sure she was right behind. Dart had stopped doing that for the most part. And actually, it made her feel really lonely and insignificant.

Lavitz was head of the pack as the hurried down the stairs back into the main room which branched off in directions leading to the exit, the cargo unloading, and further into the prison.

He sped on to scout a path as well as clear it for his large group of followers. Going alone allowed him this because he could prevent the guards blowing their whistles by being less noticeable or as much of a threat as one man.

He met with one guard by the horses who he promptly slammed against the nearest wall, knocking him unconscious instantly.

Another one's attention was grabbed by the sound and, him being as cocky as he was, charged Lavitz without thinking to bring help to his side by blowing the whistle.

Lavitz's eyes burned fiercely as he took out his pent up anger on the fool by slicing his arm off just for kicks and then slammed him downward on the ground to bust his head open.

"It's clear!" He yelled over his shoulder as he paused for a moment's time. He wasn't sure if they were waiting for some order to come on or they were really that slow.

The scene Lavitz saw as he headed up the stairs with them a bit behind was something else. Whereas most of the place was built to be a prison for anyone they well pleased this section seemed to have nearly no point at all from what he gathered.

There were poorly made pieces of wood dangling not far up with no purpose from what he saw, there was a small path directly to his left which went up sharply onto the top of the slightly raised surface above the main path. And it appeared that if you were able to jump far enough over the gap between the first platform and the next you could walk down the skinnier piece and through an opening between it and a blocked piece.

But Lavitz didn't feel like playing right now, so he rushed on the straight path over to the end of the strip of land which was circular with the most pathetic railing. However, leaning against the dark, rough wall was what appeared to be a functional lift. At least there wasn't a sign anywhere nearby.

"I think I've got it!" Lavitz cried with pleasure mingled with a certain darkness. He could not wait to get to the cretin who pulled this stunt and make him pay. "So I'm going ahead!"

Dart and the others were close enough to hear him perfectly, halfway across the strip of land. So Dart instantly yelled, "Lavitz! Wait!"

"You can't go alone stupid! You'll get killed!" Rose growled harshly.

Lavitz didn't care. He hopped into the lift, preparing himself to pull his weight up, when something clicked and he was going up without any work. "W-What…?" He stuttered, looking down at his slowly disappearing friends.

Dart stared blankly up after him, rubbing his head in confusion. "How'd he go so fast?"

Rose frowned faintly as she too stared up. "That figures." She crossed her arms over her chest.

Shana looked to Rose, confused. "What do you mean? What figures?"

Rose rolled her eyes at Shana's denseness. "Isn't it obvious?" She sighed. "This place is made specifically for the higher ups who are lazier than a sloth. They get the special treatment while the lower ranks get to pull themselves up."

Haschel nodded. "It would appear so." He looked back up to where Lavitz had gone. "At least, it makes more sense.

"But I wonder…will it come back?" Rose muttered solely to herself as she tapped a finger against her arm.

Lavitz felt the lift jerk to a stop ten minutes later, knocking him off balance and making him fall out of the device onto the rounded platform of wood. He groaned softly as he pushed himself up off his face and on his knees. "Stupid thing…"

His face went blank as he looked back behind him and saw the lift falling back down to the ground where it had originally sat. "H-Hey!" He yelled after it, fists clenched and shaking uncontrollably. "Worthless junk!"

The others twiddled their thumbs, sighed sadly, and sat boredly as they wondered where Lavitz was now. He surely wouldn't wait for them or even consider lowering the lift back down when it would just waste more precious time that he could use getting to and saving King Albert.

So when the sound of the lift coming closer caught their attentions they were all absolutely amazed. "Look guys!" Shana cried happily, pointing up to it before it lightly touched down before them.

"I knew he would wait." Dart said matter of factly, lifting his head into the air in an almost conceited manner as he got up off the ground and prepared to get in the lift.

Rose snorted as well as rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, that's why you were down on the ground pouting like everyone else."

Dart scowled lightly at her. "I was **not** pouting." He growled.

Rose shook her head at him. "Just get in the lift." She tried to order them in one of the few instances where Lavitz wasn't around in psycho mode. She was quite tired of submitting to others commands and she wasn't sure if she could take any more of it without taking the lead for at least a little bit.

"Wait." Haschel said quickly, putting his hand up in a stop motion.

Rose and Dart, who had their hands on the lift, looked back at him with a sigh.

"It is an automatic thing, right? So we have to try and get on it at the same time otherwise it will take some of us and not all of us." He felt rather intelligent as he came up with this, a broad smile spreading across his face.

"He's right." Dart nodded. "Come on Shana, get by me."

Shana moved without question over to his side, allowing him to wrap his arms around her in order to secure her.

Rose saw from the corner of her eye that Haschel was staring suggestively at her. She made the most repulsed face ever. "Not on your life." She hissed, eyes narrowed into thin slits. "You can jump in on your own or just get left behind right here. I honestly don't care."

Haschel grimaced. "Aren't you sweet." He scoffed sarcastically.

"I don't owe you a thing." She growled through clenched teeth.

Haschel snickered as he thought of something. "Unlike what you owe Dart, right?" He grinned wickedly, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

Rose started ever so slightly, eyes narrowing again in an instant. "At least he has class and doesn't hit on everything that moves." She said curtly, thrusting her head into the air superciliously as she stomped over to the lift.

Haschel chuckled in amusement, moving into position as well.

"Everyone ready?" Dart made sure, looking fervently all about himself.

Everyone nodded noticeably.

"Alright…go!" Dart yelled, jumping with Shana into the lift before anyone else did.

The others were a split second behind, but they all still managed to squeeze into the lift before it shot up into the air due to the sudden addition of weight.

Back up closer to the top Lavitz was pacing back and forth, wondering if the others were ever going to get up here. He didn't want to leave them, but he would if he had to. The only problem was that there was no way to go anywhere from this point.

There was a door set behind him which he had explored while waiting, but it only led down to a set of three doors which went around in a circle. There was a door carved into the wall farther left, but the stone walkway had an enormous gap in it which Lavitz was pretty sure he couldn't make.

But, as said before, this level led nowhere else and once he left the inner section of the wall to step into the light he found himself to be on an extremely tiny platform barely meant for one person. What was the point of this?

That was why he was now pacing, afraid of what was going to happen to King Albert.

It was about that time that the sound of the creaking lift reached him and he jumped to attention. "Finally!" He sighed in exasperation. "It took you long enough!" He yelled down at them as they continuously got closer.

Dart was too worried by the way the lift was screeching in pain to really pay attention to Lavitz. He was for sure the old thing would make it within inches of Lavitz's platform and then break under their weight.

Lavitz stared intensely down at it, daring the lift to do as Dart feared.

But it surprised them all when its pace suddenly picked up instead of stopped. And it didn't show the slightest sign of stopping as it approached Lavitz's platform.

"H-Hey!" Lavitz cried in alarm, eyes widening. "Stop!"

Dart looked around fervently to see if there was some switch on the lift that they'd unknowingly tripped that would make it stop if they got off of it. "I don't know how!" He apologized in a panic.

A fear gripped Lavitz's heart as he pictured being left behind here when he should be the one to save King Albert. "I won't be left behind!" Lavitz snarled, hurling himself into the air with his arms outstretched to grab onto the lift.

Dart was startled by Lavitz's drastic move and he barely had time enough to react to it, throwing his upper half over the side of the lift to reach desperately out for Lavitz.

Lavitz's fingers grazed the side of the lift, an intense fear gripping him that had nothing to do with saving the king. It was a selfish fear of dying from an unimaginably high drop.

Luckily Dart's desire to save Lavitz burned so intensely that he somehow leaned far enough so that his hands clasped around Lavitz's and he defied gravity, halting the decent.

Lavitz felt jerked both ways, the pull of gravity fighting its hardest to take him while Dart fought with equal strength to save him.

"You're…stupid…" Dart grumbled through clenched teeth as he used every ounce of his strength to pull Lavitz up.

Lavitz went to tell him the same, stopping as a soft smile graced his lips. It was just like in the cave. Yet he still tried as hard now as he had then. It made him feel so important. "…Sorry…" He mumbled instead, stretching an arm farther up Dart's outstretched one to latch firmly onto his elbow area.

Rose saw plainly that Dart would not be able to do this on his own and she only wondered why the other two losers weren't moving to help. Haschel especially was being pathetic. She knew Shana well enough to know that she would not likely provide any extra strength, but Haschel…no.

So, despite her usual standoffish attitude and nonchalance to life in general she found herself pushing Shana to the side and wrapping her arms around Dart's waist to pull back with him.

Dart was stunned as he felt a pair of hands around him which he knew weren't Shana's and definitely weren't Haschel's. And for it to be Rose…it made no sense.

But he ended up not caring. All that mattered was the fact that with their combined strength they were able to pull Lavitz up and over the edge without anything bad happening.

Lavitz sighed heavily, savoring the feel of solid ground beneath him. "Thanks…" he smiled warmly at Dart and even kept the smile as he looked to Rose. "And you too…" he admitted.

Rose was breathing heavily due to the amount of energy she was forced to put forth to drag all of Lavitz and half of Dart up. But she didn't ignore Lavitz like usual. She actually made an attempt at a smile, even if it looked more fake and disgruntled than anything. "Whatever." She still wasn't going to say something silly like 'You're welcome.'

The lift came to a smooth stop as it became even with the poorly constructed planks that had obviously been tacked on to the main portion as an afterthought

"Let's move!" Lavitz snapped, near death experience pushed to the farthest corners of his mind. He couldn't afford to linger on such trivialities. "We don't have much time.

One by one they piled out of the lift, charging across the large expanse of a bridge with Lavitz as their leader. And as they raced against the clock every single one of them couldn't help but feel that something was terribly wrong. Every bone in their body told them so.

At the end of the bridge Lavitz was amazed to find himself in the same room he'd been in during his first stay where they'd found Shana's key. Only this time it appeared open. "Dart!" He called over his shoulder.

Dart snapped to attention, making his way up to Lavitz's side. "What is it?"

"Remember this place?" Lavitz growled, a glare set on his face.

Dart nodded grimly. "Yeah, I do."

"Looks like we're where we need to be then." He smirked wickedly as all manner of immoral thoughts flew through his mind.

It was as they rushed to the center of the room that they realized they weren't as alone as they had thought.

Dart and Lavitz started as they saw they were surrounded by legions of guards. They blocked all routes to any part other than what was backward. "Damn." Dart hissed, drawing his sword out instinctively.

The only guard who stood up above them on the bridge walked out to the center of it, a smug smirk set on his face, before he snapped his fingers.

Instantly a horde of men swooped in front behind and pushed them forward.

Dart and the others had been so focused on those in front of them that they were easily thrown forward a space.

But Rose quickly made sure to turn about and draw her sword threateningly in order to watch these fools as well as scare them. She would thoroughly enjoy watching their blood run dry.

The guard on the bridge chuckled darkly as he watched each of them tense and draw out a weapon. "Thank you for coming all the way here!" He applauded, the other minions laughing along with him.

Lavitz seethed. "An ambush, huh?" He aimed to throw his spear up at the smug bastard. "Take us to King Albert or it'll be your last breath!" He snarled as one final threat before he unleashed hell on them all.

The leader snorted, rolling his eyes as he didn't even reach for his weapon. "Hmm...brave, brave." He chuckled again as he knew of what was to come. "But you still don't know where you are."

Dart was in about the same mood as Lavitz was at this point, eyes burning with inextinguishable passion. "Shut up and get out of our way!" If they refused now he'd have no problem tearing each one limb from limb.

The leader paced some on the bridge, smirk never fading. "We know how strong you are." He nodded with certainty. "But it doesn't make any difference…" He chortled. "…because you are still just feed!" And he slammed a switch at one end of the bridge down hard.

Suddenly their footing disappeared, the grating they'd unknowingly been standing on clanging against the wall.

"Shoot!" Dart screamed. And they were sent spiraling down into the darkness below.

"Dart!" Shana instinctively called for him.

Dart tried to reach for her in the darkness as they plummeted, but he could not find her. "Shana!"

Lavitz, somehow able to think, grabbed onto his Dragoon Spirit and a bright white light pierced the darkness. With it he saw Shana was within arm's reach of him and he fought against the downward pull to grab onto her and pull her to him.

An instant later they all smacked down on the cold, hard, dirt floored terrain, a collective cry of pained shock issuing forth.

Dart was the first to find the energy to stand, slowly moving from his knees and then shakily to his feet. He groaned faintly as he rubbed his head tenderly. But all in all, considering the distance, it wasn't too bad a landing.

Shana rose up into a sitting position shortly after, only conscious because Lavitz's body had shielded her from the brunt of the blow. "Lavitz…?" She murmured, looking blankly down at him.

Dart then cried, "Everybody all right!"

Shana let her gaze wander to him, her mind settling back in reality. "I'm fine." She nodded, smiling softly before Lavitz caught her attention and she basically ignored Dart.

Lavitz groaned loudly, sitting up so that Shana slid off of him onto the floor. "This is not even a problem." He hissed with more annoyance than anger for once, trying to pretend the issue of getting out of here would be easily solved when in reality he wasn't so sure.

Shana's face lit up as she saw a glimpse of the real him. "Are you alright?" She muttered, moving her hand over his face to see if she felt any blood or bruises.

"Fine." He sighed, getting to his feet before helping her up and wrapping an arm around her waist tenderly.

Haschel jumped to his feet, brushing himself off. "Sandora is such a coward, making a trap like that without fighting…" he scoffed.

Rose had been sitting in the corner the whole time, massaging her leg which she had landed on the wrong way when trying to make a graceful landing. "Well, it is one way to fight." She shrugged, glaring at herself for not knowing they'd pull such a stunt and then getting hurt as a direct result. "Besides, it's our own fault for being trapped." She should have seen it coming. Why didn't she see it…?

Haschel snorted, shaking his head at her. "You are harsh."

Dart sighed softly, "Well, there has to be a way out. We just have to look."

Each immediately went to looking all over for any sign of a switch or something that might trigger a hidden doorway. The one who tried the hardest was Lavitz who had the most drive.

Dart might have tried as hard as him, but he was distracted by Rose who was still on the floor. He wondered if she had hurt herself for once. So he walked over to her and knelt down next to her. "You ok?"

Rose averted her eyes, looking instead at a huge set of bones to her right. "It's nothing." She grumbled, never ceasing rubbing her leg.

Dart frowned deeply. "I know you don't like to admit to weakness, but it's not a crime to be hurt." He chuckled some, trying to make her smile even the slightest bit.

Rose slowly brought her eyes to him, looking dully into his blue eyes. "It is for me." She growled miserably, a tortured sigh passing her lips.

Dart inspected her legs from afar with the aid of the dim lights set on the walls. The one she held in particular looked red. "Shana can try and heal that for you." He offered.

Rose's eyes narrowed instantly, a scowl present. "No." She said sharply. She wasn't about to take help from that fragile girl. She was competent enough to handle this on her own.

Dart shook his head at her stubborn, independent nature. "Then at least let me help." He sighed, reaching out to try his hand at massaging her leg.

Rose instantly tensed at his touch, a glare set on her face aimed at him.

Dart mostly ignored her, knowing that deep down she appreciated his act of kindness.

And he was right. Rose did like how he moved his hands along her leg so smoothly. It felt so much nicer than when she did it to herself. It was kind of relaxing if she were perfectly honest. "You don't have to do this." She murmured, wanting to pretend she didn't care despite the fact it was obvious she loved it.

Dart smirked faintly, unnoticeable in the dim light of the area. "I do." He disagreed. "You're my friend." He said warmly.

Rose wished she could have smiled at this, but her mouth wouldn't allow it. So instead she merely said, "You're just like him…"

Dart started at this. "What? Who?"

Rose shook her head. "Nobody. Just one of my friends…" She sighed bitterly.

Dart's half smile slipped into a frown as he watched her mood hit rock bottom. "Oh…"

As Shana had searched while Rose and Dart conversed she found herself to be drawn over to a corner of the area by a cool feeling. It was as if foreign air was getting through the two rocks set tightly together. She placed a hand on one, feeling the smooth surface. "I feel a draft from the gap…"

Dart perked as he heard her faintly. "What was that Shana?"

Shana looked to him with a far off stare. "Over here." She pointed. "I feel a draft."

Dart jumped up instantly to explore this possibility, leaving Rose to get up on her own. He made it to Shana in a moment's time, feeling the wall as well as the tiny gap between them to confirm. "It's true." He nodded firmly with a triumphant smile. "The draft is coming from here!"

Lavitz's face lit up instantly. "Then, if we move the rock there should be a way out!"

A faint growl came from the depths of the dark area which sent a shiver down all their spines and made Haschel tense as well as clench his fists in defense. "It seems we have to welcome unwanted guests before that." He growled.

Rose picked up her dropped sword and hopped to her feet, ignoring the sharp pain in her leg in order to protect her life as well as those around her. "Well, we are supposed to be feed." She snorted. "We have everything we need."

Another angry roar erupted forth, the earth trembling as the creature came forward out of the pitch black where it rested when alone.

"It's coming!" Dart warned, gripping his sword tightly and bracing himself for what was headed for them.

The creature then stretched its neck out; spit flying as it screamed at them.

Now Dart could see that it was a mixture of an overgrown bear and dog. It had claws easily a foot long, a set of tusks on the outer edges of his mouth as well as a small set just above them, it's toenails were about half the size of the claws, its back was made of a strange coating that appeared rock solid, its tail was covered with spikes, its eyes were an eerie yellow, and it had broken shackles on its ankles and wrists.

This was the brute known as Jiango by his master Fruegel.

Jiango lumbered forward, slower than their average opponent. But he all but made up for it with his immense strength. All he had to do was land a hit.

Shana quickly raised her bow and sent an arrow at him, teeth grit in anticipation.

Jiango didn't move out of range, but he didn't have to. His thick skin made the arrow bounce off of him easily.

Shana sucked in a sharp breath. She knew she would be useless in this.

Rose, despite her injury, was the first to reach him. She aimed for any place she could reach.

Jiango slowly moved his arm up above his head to slam it down on Rose and perhaps dig his sharp claws through her as well.

Rose leapt to the side with ease, bounding back just as easily to land a blow on his lower arm.

Jiango screamed at her, set of forty teeth showing as he dove his head down to take a bite.

Rose flipped back out of reach so that she felt safe enough to crouch down and hold her leg. She really couldn't fight this way.

Dart and Lavitz did a tag team, one going at the front while the other went for the back.

Jiango wasn't stupid though. He swung his spiked tail around for Lavitz while he breathed yellow tinted fumes from his mouth at Dart.

Dart clamped a hand over his mouth, going one handed as he held his breath and swung his sword at the beast's chest.

Lavitz pretended it was jump rope, leaping over his dangerous tail by mere centimeters before swirling around and jabbing his spear into a smooth section of the tail.

Jiango wasn't really hurt, just unimaginably infuriated, as he roared. Most of his meals were easy pickings.

Haschel wanted to get in there like the others, but his bare fists weren't much use when every angle of the creature was either sharp or nearly sword proof.

Rose was back up again, sprinting toward Jiango as he focused on the other two. It gave her the perfect opportunity to get close range and slice him across the chest near the heart.

Jiango's eyes caught fire as he glimpsed the blur with the aid of his darkness sensitive eyes. He also predicted where she was headed with another of his special abilities.

So as she went for it she was surprised to feel a hard smack across her entire body as she was flung halfway across the room by Jiango's enormous paw.

Rose crashed with a thud, skidding some on her side.

"Rose!" Dart cried, jerking his head back to see if she was alright.

As all were distracted by their emotions Jiango started to jump up and down, each landing shaking the earth with intensity.

Rose's eyes widened as she knew what this entailed. "Get away from him! Now!" She screamed.

Everyone started as the crumbling of rocks above their heads filled their ears.

"Dart! Lavitz!" Shana screamed tearfully.

Dart and Lavitz scrambled away as the hanging rocks came smashing down on the ground around them, their hearts racing.

The rocks didn't bother Jiango a bit thanks to his rock solid back and, using their confusion to his advantage, he swiped his hand out at them.

He grazed Dart, knocking him over.

Rose shot up into a run, narrowly dodging the falling debris as she raced to Dart.

Before she could get there, despite Dart scrambling up, one of the sharp rocks sunk deep into his lower leg. This elicited a tortured scream from him as he frantically pulled at the object.

What was worse was that it had stuck fast in the ground, pinning Dart in place.

"Dart!" Shana saw through the dimness at what had happened, tears welling in her eyes.

Rose caught her breath as she reached Dart, sensing a shift in energy output coming from back where Shana was. But there was little time to wonder, she had to get Dart out of the way.

Dart had never been happier to see Rose then he was now as she effortlessly sliced the rock's top off.

Rose shielded them some with a thin barrier of purple light as she pulled the wedged rock out through the fresh hole in Dart's leg.

Jiango slammed his paws repeatedly down on them, growing angrier by the second as he was inexplicably rebutted.

Lavitz was in the far corner, hidden in darkness, as the rocks slowly ceased falling. Even if it weren't so he knew he had to get back in there and end this.

Rose allowed the barrier to fall, moving as fast as she could with Dart over beneath a set of large bones. Once there she took to looking at the wound.

"I'm fine." He insisted in a strained tone.

"Don't lie to me." She growled. "You have a hole all the way through your leg."

Jiango rammed his head into the bones as well as scrapped furiously beneath them to reach Dart and Rose.

Rose growled angrily, eyes ablaze, as she pushed them back even farther. "Stupid animal." She hissed, jamming her sword down deep into the top of his hand.

Jiango reared back instantly, howling like mad at the stabbing pain.

As Jiango stumbled, Lavitz imitated Rose's act and jabbed his spear in his foot. If he couldn't walk, he couldn't do much.

Jiango let out an earsplitting scream spitting his yellow knock out gas out as he kicked out at anything he might hit with his good foot.

Lavitz jumped as if on hot lava around the creature's flailing limbs, stabbing his spear in at each new angle of his legs and feet.

Jiango was sick and tired of this ring around the rosie and just decided to slam his head down, aiming to smash Lavitz with his tusks.

He missed, but just barely, causing Lavitz to stumble backwards and fall flat on his butt.

Jiango's eyes shone evilly then as he deliberately picked his head up and raised his paw up.

Lavitz darted up, but that's all he had time to do.

Jiango smacked him ruthlessly, slamming him hard against the wall.

Lavitz's back arched as he made contact and he also felt the breath knocked out of him. He instinctively clutched at his stomach, wheezing, instead of for his spear which sat on the ground below him.

Dart reached a shaky hand out toward Lavitz who was far from reach as if to save him. "N-No…"

Jiango thrust his tusk into Lavitz's stomach, the sound of blood splattering chilling them all to the bone.

Lavitz's sharp scream sliced through the air as he felt his organs being twisted and ravaged, Jiango carving him like a pumpkin.

Shana's shriek rose higher even than Lavitz's. "LAVITZ!" A blinding light erupted from her, engulfing her in it more than anyone as tears began rolling down her face.

Jiango let out a startled yelp, yanking his claw back as the light burned him and he fell backwards with a loud smack.

The light never really died completely, but from the center emerged Shana, equip in Dragoon armor of platinum and sea blue in the same fashion as the others. Only her stomach was revealed as well as her upper arms and upper legs, her sea blue skirt fluttering gently, and the stones on her headband were amber colored.

Jiango, stunned, lifted back up to his feet without any real knowing of where he was.

Shana's face was set harder than it had ever been, a lust for blood burning brightly as she aimed her new and improved thick platinum bow directly at Jiango's heart. "Die…" she hissed vehemently, letting the arrow fly.

The sparkling arrow struck dead center of his heart, bursting with light as it met with the tainted beast and his sinister heart.

As Jiango howled and thrashed about to free himself of the object and the searing pain it caused it just sank further into him.

Shana scowled darkly at the creature before soaring over to where Lavitz lay crippled against the wall, shining particles forming around her hands all the while. "Lavitz..." She whined, cradling him in her arms.

Lavitz's eyes were shut. His body was colder than it should have been as he remained motionless in her hold.

"L-Lavitz." Shana sobbed softly as she stared sadly at him, hand placed loosely on the gaping hole in his gut while the other held the back of his head. It didn't matter that it was the grossest thing ever, the blood seeping through her fingers and staining her palm. Somehow she had to touch it, the only warm part of him. "Look at me!" She demanded.

It wasn't noticeable, but slowly it appeared as if pieces of Lavitz's flesh were replacing itself.

Shana cried harder as he continued to not respond to her, leaning her head over on his shoulder.

The light on her hands burst with energy, filling Lavitz's wound and coursed through his veins as if it were his blood working to provide life.

Shana sucked in a sharp breath, jerking her head up, as she finally noticed what she was doing. She no longer felt fresh blood either, the wound sealing shut.

Rose smirked in knowing as she saw what Shana still was blind to, the fact that Lavitz was being healed by the life being sucked from Jiango's heart by her arrow.

Lavitz flew up into a sitting position, gasping for air like he'd never have it again as he clutched his head and stomach tenderly.

Shana felt her heart skip a beat as his emerald green eyes regained their life and stared up at her. "S-Shana…?" He breathed, not sure if what he was seeing was real. He was sure he had died.

Shana let out a soft whimper of happiness before she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly and savored his warming skin and scent. "Oh my God…" She murmured. "You're alive!"

Lavitz was still shocked by her transformed appearance and couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at her and her large wings which where nearly completely wrapped around the two of them.

Shana nuzzled him gently, not caring if he said a word or not.

"How…?" He finally said blankly.

Shana pulled away from him a bit to look him in the eye and smile painfully at him. "I-I…I don't really know." She admitted, wiping at her eyes and face to get rid of any residual tears.

Lavitz smiled softly up at her, not knowing what to say.

Shana sighed to further show her relief, hugging him again. "I'm just so happy." As her anxiety levels dropped a faint light from the green gem on her chest plate shone and she was instantly stripped of her magical armor.

Lavitz was then able to wrap his arms around her waist and hug her back, oblivious to the world.

Jiango had been as good as dead as he stumbled around aimlessly, but it was only as the last traces of his life went to Rose and her leg did he finally flop over. He crashed down hard, unsettling more rocks with his massive weight.

Shana started at the sound, it somehow reminding her of Dart. "Oh my God!" She cried, jumping to her feet. "Dart!"

Dart was standing a few feet off, leaning heavily against Rose so as not to upset his already agonizingly painful wound.

Shana went to him, cringing as she laid eyes on the hole in his leg. It wasn't as bad as Lavitz's, but still, it was bad. "Maybe if I…" she muttered to herself, bending down and wrapped her hands around the wound.

With the residual energy from her life draining attack she was able to restore his flesh as well as lessen the pain greatly.

"Wow!" Dart cried in awe, swinging his leg animatedly back and forth, a broad grin on his face. He even jumped away from Rose to try out walking and running.

Shana rose, looking to Rose, a puzzled expression showing. "How did I do that?"

Rose smirked. "It's your strength as a Dragoon. The White Silver Dragoon is potentially the strongest of them all when the user knows how to tap into the power. It can turn a drastic, near death situation into a victory for their side."

Shana stared down at her hands in amazement, a soft smile passing her lips. "So…I did heal them. I knew it." She sighed in content.

"The question is, can you do it again?" Rose pressed, a brow raised.

"Guys!" Haschel yelled. "Look at that!" He pointed toward the place where the draft had been coming from. "The monster fell and the rocks collapsed!" He couldn't believe it. And he needed to be the one to alert them to this when he'd done nothing to help.

Lavitz jumped to his feet, a dark smile coming to his face. "There is no enemy in front of us!" He cheered, clenched a fist before his face.

Dart and Rose nodded firmly, going to him.

Dart held out a hand in high five. "Let's go!" He cried.

Lavitz hit him back, the three running off without a second thought toward the other two. They simply expected them to follow like good little puppies.

Haschel did as he was expected; stopping as he noticed Shana was not. He perked, turning his head around to see her. "Shana, is something wrong?" His brow furrowed, a frown present.

Shana sighed heavily, the relief of Lavitz and Dart being ok finally wearing off. Now all she thought of was how they so quickly forgot her even when she'd been the one to save them. "Men can have a great friendship." She murmured, hanging her head sadly.

Haschel's eyes saddened further. "It's about Dart and Lavitz, isn't it?" He sort of sympathized with her pain.

Shana looked up, her eyes pitiful. "They understand each other without a word. Man and woman can not be like that." She shook her head. "I envy them a little bit I suppose." She half shrugged, sighing again.

Haschel wasn't sure what to say to help, but he tried. "What about with Dart?"

She shook her head slowly, hands clasped at her chest. "It's not that simple anymore." She whispered, starting to hate what she was doing.

Haschel figured it was something like that. He knew the way she reacted to Lavitz being hurt was much too intense to be a simple relationship of comrades.

"But…I still don't know yet….about anything." She looked up at the ceiling, seeing a bat or two hiding out. "Dart…he seems to have been thinking about me as his 'sister'." She said almost bitterly, scowling over to the side. "And Lavitz…" she trailed off. She wasn't supposed to be so blunt about how she felt about him.

Haschel shrugged. "You'll have to tell Dart eventually."

Shana sucked in a sharp breath at this, eyes widening some as she jerked her head back toward him.

Haschel didn't react at all to her shock because it did not surprise him. "That way you can show him that he is too late and your relationship with Lavitz won't have to be so awkward."

Shana frowned deeply, averting her eyes again. He was probably right. Things would be so much easier for them if she did this. Yet she couldn't help but feel it would complicate their dynamics at the same time. "Maybe…" Her mind then drifted to Rose who ran beside her two men. "But it's hard, especially when you know it's possible for a woman to run beside them so easily." She chuckled in misery. "She does it like she is a man."

Haschel had nothing to say to this. He couldn't say he knew what she meant because he barely knew Rose. However, from what he'd seen of them thus far Rose was very much a man in attitude and fighting skill. She was unlike any woman he had met all over the world.

"Shana!" Dart's voice pierced the silence, a hint of worry in his tone. "Is anything wrong?" He also, much to Shana's surprise, appeared back at the bottom of the stairs along with Lavitz.

Shana smiled in half real cheer. "No! Nothing! I'm coming!" She chirped, heading into a run.

Haschel smiled too, following after her as he knew she was ok, at least for now.

But despite Shana's newfound content at having her men come back for her she still was perturbed by the decision she would have to make. Maybe once this mess was over she'd do it. Because she knew it had to be done.

**Oh, if their names are wrong please please PLEASE tell me! It's a long story, but basically I was changing names in one file and accidentally did it in the LoD one. Opps. So sorry if strange names pop up. I tried to fix them all, but might have missed some. ^^''' Thanks in advance.**

**Only one chapter to go until I make myself sad. lol, nah. It is sad, but I've read it so many times it's not that bad. I do hope that I get a sad kind of reaction from you all though, since you have never read it before. Please review! :D**


	16. The Hooded Man

**Here it is! The chapter of DOOM! Have fun with it. And do tell me if it sucks. This was written a year ago so my writing is much different now than then. Nothing I can really do about that, but it's still nice to know what people really think of my writing abilities. Enjoy!**

They went two by twos up the spiraling staircase, only able to avoid dizziness because they were so incredibly focused on the task at hand. Not even the measly guards were cause for annoyance.

The first one they reached on the trip up wasn't even paying attention and Lavitz easily knocked him over the side to fall a good ways. Whether he lived or not was up to chance.

The next was paying a bit more attention; fast enough to grab his weapon before Lavitz had him.

Lavitz maneuvered his weapon so that it was between the guard and his weapon so as to flick the spear up out of his hands.

The guard watched as it soared through the air, Lavitz swiping it from midair with exceptional ease.

Lavitz twirled both spears around expertly before pointing them threateningly at the guard to scare him a bit.

The guard slowly backed up against the railing of the stairs, shaking in his boots. He knew he was going to die.

Lavitz gave him a dark smirk before he dropped the extra weapon and simply pushed the guard with his free hand back over the railing, his scream a pleasing sound.

After that it was clear for the rest of the ascent, the familiar light of the center room filtering through the opening at the top. And, bursting through all at once, they found themselves to be up on the only platform of the room which they hadn't been on previously.

Unfortunately they weren't alone.

A trio of guards had been standing idly around the exit of the trap as extra precautions and they jumped half a mile as they saw every last one of the warriors step out into view.

"N-No way…" one said, all of them backing up and drawing their weapons in trembling hands. "It can not be!"

A second shoved his spear toward the leader, Lavitz. "How are you still alive!?" He demanded in an attempt to sound fierce and without fear unlike the others.

"No way…" the third shook his head in disbelief, "They beat the monster?" He backed further up the next short stairs to try and sneak off without worrying about losing his life.

"Fruegel's gonna kill us." The first whispered, swallowing hard.

Dart and Lavitz both jumped forward slightly as if they would attack, hoping it would send them all running.

They all backed up a great length, but they still didn't turn heel and run. They may have been bad people, but that didn't make them cowards.

"No!" The bravest of the three cried, gripping his spear tight. "No! We won't let them go farther!" He lunged at the closest one.

Dart swiftly raised his blade up, blocking the blow and thrust the man back without hurting him. He really didn't want to hurt him for this. Get out of our way." Dart growled, eyes narrowed.

They all seemed to think about it for a fraction of a second, but all it took was an image of Fruegel's angry face to convince them otherwise. "Never!" The two in the front snarled in unison.

Before either had a chance to move Lavitz had stabbed one in the gut and flung him over on top of the other. They were so dazed that he was then able to jump swiftly toward them to impale them both at the same time.

The others behind him just kind of stared with a mixture of fear and astonishment. There was no reason to act to aid him because he obviously had things handled. Though even if there had been a need to act none of them could say they would have been able to.

Lavitz kicked the one on top off of the other, hearing him moan lightly as he did so. He went to kick the other in the same manner when he heard a footfall on the stairs above him, choosing to instead jerk his head up in the direction.

There stood the cowardly man, shaking like crazy as he froze at the arch of the doorway. His eyes screamed to be spared of such a fate. He wanted to run.

Lavitz snarled at him, eyes narrowed into thin slits as a fire burned within them. Yet he still found himself unable to act on the feelings like before. Something in his face stirred up the pity that had been dormant ever since he'd found out about King Albert's imprisoning. So, after sighing in aggravation at himself, he snapped miserably, "Get!"

The man still did not move, eyes darting from him, to the bleeding men, and then back again.

Lavitz seethed, hands trembling in fury. "I said go! Or do you want me to kill you too!?" He snapped, brow raised and teeth bared as he shoved his bloody spear at him.

The man snapped out of his frozen state then as he was faced with the alternative, scrambling away up the stairs to get as far away as fast as possible. He honestly didn't even think he would warn Fruegel about them at this point. He was just happy to be alive.

Lavitz sighed angrily at himself, slamming his fist into the wall to try and relieve the stress. "I can't believe I let him go…" he murmured.

Dart walked up to his side, smiling in pained relief. "Let's go." He laid a hand on his shoulder, not telling him what he thought of his deed since he knew it wouldn't help.

Rose stepped up a bit so that she was close to being in between them. "You can shed as much blood as you want when we save Albert." She added smoothly, smirking faintly as she too rather liked the thought.

Lavitz actually preferred this to what Shana or even Dart might have said, a wicked smile returning to his lips. "Yeah." He nodded firmly, doing a fist pump. "Let's go!"

Fruegel stood out from Albert a bit as he stared with a widespread grin on his face. "The sun is rising." He chuckled, eyes gleaming with a life that was uncommon to him. "It's good for you! You die and the war ends!" He turned from the gap in the wall to face his prisoner. "That was your wish wasn't it?"

Albert jerked his head down and to the side hard. He couldn't let himself be sucked in by this nonsense.

"You want to end the war don't you?" He prodded cruelly, snickering at himself. "I'll make your dream come true very soon." He broke out into his trademark maniacal laughter. How he loved to dangle this man's desires right in front of him while making it an impossible choice whether he really wanted it for the price of his life.

Albert moaned in aggravation. "Agh, I am vexed." He shook his head sadly, hanging it as well as he came closer to accepting his fate for the bettering of his people.

Fruegel looked back to the opening in the way. "It's unfortunate for Lord Doel, but I can not wait for the hooded man." He turned his attention back on King Albert. "I just want to kill you so badly!" He cackled, raising his club high over his head in anticipation. "When I see the smallest glimpse of the sun, I'll cut your head off for ya!" He grinned wickedly at the very thought.

Albert cringed, shut his eyes tight, and grit his teeth to brace himself for the soon to come blow. He knew it would be soon not because of Fruegel's words, but because he could feel the sun burning on his bare back.

So as he heard a pained cry issue forth from his captor, Albert was almost too stunned to react.

Fruegel growled angrily, eyes burning with great loathing. "Damn it!" He snapped, pulling the arrow which had stuck fast in his arm out with his free hand.

King Albert then opened his eyes, looking hopefully over towards the only way out. A bright smile spread across his face as he saw them.

"King Albert!" Lavitz bellowed at the top of his lungs, spear at the ready and face set in a bloodthirsty look. "I won't forgive you Fruegel!" He snarled, stopping short along with the others who had their weapons drawn.

Fruegel's free hand was clenched in fury, not believing this. "Tut. Those rats came on time." He smirked in amusement then as he looked to King Albert and back again. Not even his negative feelings toward their arrival brought him down. "It doesn't matter." He shook his head. "I'll get you all before Albert!" And he charged.

Lavitz shot into a run toward him, knowing he had the ability to end this in one go if he hit him just right.

The others were hot on Lavitz's heels, spreading out to form a tight circle around Fruegel and trap him in the most perfect fashion.

Unfortunately Fruegel wasn't as dumb as they might have liked. He knew what they were trying to do and immediately went for one of the whistles about his neck.

As he blew it all were forced to stop abruptly as two creatures came out of nowhere to stand between them and Fruegel.

One was a boar with tusks a fourth of the size of its body, a spike protruding from the middle of its forehead, and a gold collar wrapped around its fat neck. The other was a bird of extraordinary colors and an impressive wingspan for its size.

"Oh, so you're stalling us with pets, eh!?" Lavitz quipped, eyes gleaming in interest of these creatures despite himself. "Then let's dance!"

The bird, by instinct, shot into the air well out of reach, cawing mockingly at the whole lot of them.

The boar, being as loyal as a dog, stood his ground and bared his teeth threateningly.

Haschel went for the boar, knowing it was hit best bet at hitting a blow. "Come get some!" Haschel taunted, launching a punch for the creature's face.

The boar didn't hesitate; it opened its mouth wide and jumped for the old man.

Haschel did a last minute drop to the ground as he saw the daring nature of the boar, instead choosing to knock the tiny feet out from under the boar.

The boar squealed as it easily lost its balance and fell flat on its face.

Haschel kicked the boar roughly, sending him skidding across the floor. "HA! No match!" He cried triumphantly.

The bird, as he was so high up, had only one enemy. Shana and her arrows were the only thing that could hit him without the power of the Dragoon Spirit. "Stupid bird!" She yelled, sending another arrow at the pest.

The bird swerved, avoiding the arrow again and sounding a victorious caw in response. The creature even appeared to be strutting in the air after Shana did a double take.

Shana growled loudly, shooting two consecutive shots at him in two different places.

The bird did a showy movement as he dodged the arrow, heading right into her trap. Her second arrow struck him in the center of his right wing, eliciting a pained cry from its beak.

"Yes!" She cheered, throwing her arms into the air.

Lavitz, however, did not have time to be distracted by such insignificant pests. He let his friends deal with them as he ran over to King Albert to free him. "King Albert!" He cried in half relief, half dejectedness as he knelt down next to him.

"Lavitz! Look out!" Albert yelled out, unable to do more.

Lavitz jerked his gaze back, jumping backwards up on his feet just in time to avoid being crushed by Fruegel's club.

Fruegel laughed at the knight. "HA! I don't think so!" He sneered, raising his club up for another swing. "He is my precious cargo now!"

This boiled Lavitz's blood more than anything could. King Albert was not cargo! Just like Shana hadn't been when they'd saved her! "Don't call him that!" He snarled, slashing his spear through the air toward Fruegel.

Fruegel grinned wickedly, moving with surprising speed to avoid the blow. "No, you're right." He snickered. "He's a disposable piece of trash that I will remove from existence!"

"You bastard!" Lavitz roared with unmatchable rage, swinging again with increased strength.

Fruegel moved just out of reach again, slamming his club down hard instantly after in an attempt to catch Lavitz off guard in the moment.

Lavitz, although surprised by Fruegel's swiftness, was able to leap back out of range in the nick of time. He did, however, feel a sharp pain in his left arm as he became well out of the way. He knew one of the spikes on Fruegel's club must have nicked him

Fruegel cackled as he saw Lavitz grip at his arm in what he assumed was his way of trying to pretend it wasn't as bad as it was. "What!? Get a scratch!?" He laughed maniacally at his own joke.

Lavitz glared without mercy at Fruegel, removing his hand from around the stinging area to see that blood was soaking his hand. The torn flesh wasn't life threatening, but it hurt like hell and made him shudder at the large amount of bleeding.

Fruegel keep on laughing as he charged at him, swinging his club wildly.

Lavitz jumped back further, calculating in his head just how he'd have to move to pull of what he was about to do.

Rose and Dart were farther off, nearly backed up into a corner because as the whistle had been blown not only had his pets emerged but so did a swarm of guards. And although they weren't much when there were few of them, they put up a rather good fight in a larger group.

The clang of swords issued forth as Dart yanked his sword up in front of him to block the blow. "This isn't looking good." Dart murmured to Rose, throwing the weapon of one guard back so he could swiftly guard himself from another at his side.

"We have to fight." She said simply, lobbing one of the men's head off. "That or die."

Dart snorted lightly at her words, finding them slightly humorous despite the realness of her prediction.

Rose kicked the closest man to him back, toppling a stream of them over and freeing herself up to fling her stiletto out inches from Dart's face to stop a sword he had not seen coming. "Watch yourself!" She barked at him, pushing the threatening man back a ways before daring to cut his hand clear off. She then spun him about and threw him out of the high room to fall to his death.

Dart didn't even realize the danger he had been in, going on as if nothing had happened. "Get out of my way!" He barked, driving his sword through the stomach of two who were standing in a neat row.

The boar at this point was in the corner, shaking only faintly as it stood with one leg lifted off the ground and blood oozing from the edges of its mouth.

Haschel felt only a little pity as he approached the creature to make the finishing blow. It was, after all, simply doing as its master ordered. It was a victim of circumstance. "Sorry pig." He went to kick the pig clear over the edge to fall to his death.

The boar's eyes gleamed a crimson red, breathing elevating to the extremes, and then he was speeding around Haschel faster than the eye could see to slam his tusks hard into his leg.

Haschel let out a loud cry of pain as the boar tore through the skin, making his knees buckle.

The boar wallowed, shredding more of his leg in its newfound frenzy that kicked in as a natural instinct to survive against the odds.

Haschel punched repeatedly at the boar, striking its stomach, head, and even its hard tusks. "Get off!" He snarled.

The pig squealed with each blow, trying its best to ignore the aching pain each one caused.

Finally Haschel punched the creature hard enough to dislodge its tusks and send it spiraling across the room to hit hard on the floor, a pained squeal passing its lips.

The boar tried its hardest to get back up on its legs, to no avail. It could no longer support its own weight, one of his leg bones being shattered to boot.

Fruegel, not so occupied as he should have been by the battle at hand, was quick to blow a second whistle. He then screamed shortly after, "Guftas! Attack!"

Guftas, the boar, began to glow an eerie red, its aura of evil spreading all about its body. It snorted with equal evil, eyes darkening still and small traces of blood flowing with more thickness to represent not his own blood but the blood of those he had slain in the past.

Haschel started, amazed by what he was witnessing. This creature had been as good as dead a half a second ago and now here he was, practically new. "Wow…"

The boar opened its mouth wide then, screaming a bloodcurdling scream that filled the room and spread a sickening feeling throughout the atmosphere.

Haschel immediately clamped his hands hard over his ears, not sure what would happen if he listened too long. And even then he heard the cry echoing in his ears.

Shana dropped her bow instantly, collapsing to her knees as she smashed her hands against her ears, tears stinging her eyes at the pain.

Lavitz too couldn't handle the intense noise; knees threatening to buckle like Shana's had. What was worse was Fruegel was able to handle the sound without the slightest hint of pain.

"Pathetic!" Fruegel taunted, swinging at Lavitz and succeeding in knocking him hard against a wall.

Lavitz groaned, teeth clenched from a combination of the pain inflicted by the club and the ongoing shriek of the boar. "G-Gotta…get…up…" he said to himself, pushing himself up on his side in an attempt to get back on his feet.

Rose and Dart felt the effects as well, hands gripping their ears to avoid whatever this shriek was supposed to cause.

"R-Rose…" Dart strained to say, feeling empty space beneath half of his foot as he backed up away from a few of the senior wardens. They were unaffected as well.

"Transform." She growled through clenched teeth, her body feeling numb.

Dart concentrated as best he could with all the distractions, but it wasn't enough. "I-I can't." He murmured miserably, nerves twitching.

"You have to." She growled.

Dart didn't understand. "Why don't you?"

Rose shook her head fervently. "I can't."

"Why not!?" He snapped with more energy than he thought he possessed in that moment. "You've been doing it more than me!"

She shook her head again, this time more weakly. "I…I just…can't. Trust me…" Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell flat on the ground, nearly stumbling off the edge and falling.

"Rose!" Dart screamed, catching her despite the stupidity of it. He had to let go of his ears to do so.

Her body was seizing horribly as Dart tried to still her. His own body seeming to try and disobey him the longer he left his hands from his ears.

Fruegel cackled at the sight of all of them on the ground. He knew he was within inches of victory. "See?" He mused, heading toward Lavitz, the most conscious of them all. "It won't be long until every one of you have lost all control of your bodies."

Lavitz forced his eyes to look over the scene. There was even a large amount of Fruegel's men twitching on the ground, not lucky enough to have the immunity. But the only people he cared about were his friends who were scattered around, Rose already succumbed to the screams, Dart nearly there, Shana resisting with all her might, and Haschel pressed up against the wall as if this would ensure he didn't fall victim.

Lavitz's eyes flared dangerously, his mouth curved into a snarl. "You bastard!" He snarled, forcing himself up the wall against his body's quakes and jerks. "Stop hurting them!"

Fruegel snorted in indifference, having no connection to any of them other than wanting them dead. He then took a whack at Lavitz, although with much less momentum in the swing.

Lavitz flew across the room despite the lack of energy behind the hit, fingers clenching to try and grab on to something to help him get up.

Haschel actually was the best off of them due to his age and slowly fading hearing and this allowed him to have the brain functionality to realize what needed to be done. "That pig." He grumbled, forcing himself to stand. "It's all that damn pig." He slowly staggered forward toward it in a mixture of stealth and limited limb control.

The boar saw Haschel approaching, but while he was screaming he was made incapacitated, just as unable to move as the rest of them. And he knew better than to stop until his master said so.

Haschel reached the boar a minute of struggling later, trembling fist raised high above the boar. "Stop…screaming…" he growled, slamming his fist down hard on the boar's head.

The boar instantly ceased its incessant cry, instead squealing in pain from the brutal punch to the head. He even started to run about in dizzying circles, brain damaged at this point.

Haschel fell with a relieved sigh down to his knees, breathing deeply in and out as his self-control returned to him and everyone else.

Shana's eyes slowly opened and she picked her head up off the floor, looking blankly around.

Dart's clouded mind began to clear and he no longer feared he and Rose would fall back over the edge into the grip of death.

Rose made soft noises, but she didn't open her eyes. She felt weak, like she'd fallen a thousand feet and was incapable of doing anything but being thankful she wasn't dead.

Lavitz recovered the fastest. He was up on his feet in the blink of an eye, twitching muscles not even a problem for him. "Now what?" He spat at Fruegel, eyes gleaming with a certain darkness that was akin to Fruegel's.

Fruegel was only mildly perturbed by this, raising his fingers to his mouth. "I'm not worried." He shrugged, whistling loudly. "Rodriguez!" He snapped.

Lavitz jerked his head about, having completely forgotten about the stupid bird.

The bird, with the arrow still intact, swooped down with blinding speed at his hated enemy.

Shana didn't have the time to do anything but suck in a soft breath as she saw the bird inches from her.

Rodriguez sunk its claws deep into her shoulders, lifting her up off the ground and shooting back up high in the air.

"Shana!" Lavitz screamed, aiming his spear at the bird as it rose higher and higher.

Fruegel laughed maniacally. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He chided, smirking deviously. "Wouldn't want to hit the girl now would we?"

Lavitz seethed. "That's it!" He turned about quick as lightening, throwing his spear right for Fruegel's head.

Fruegel was taken aback by the speed Lavitz possessed in that moment of anger, only able to move enough so that the weapon struck his neck instead of his head.

Lavitz smirked devilishly, chuckling in the same manner.

Fruegel pulled at the spear, wrenching it out after a moment of struggling. Blood covered the tip of the spear, it spilling from the wound on his neck at a fast rate. "You rat!" He bellowed in a choked tone, the blood already clogging up his airways.

Up in the air Shana was hitting at the bird as best she could, drawing arrows to stab at any place as well. "Put me down!"

The bird squawked angrily as she jabbed her arrows into its wings, choosing to peck at her repeatedly while waiting for the next command.

Fruegel could feel he was about to lose his ability to communicate with his pets and quickly blew on his fingers one last time. "Attack!"

Rodriguez let out a shrill caw, zooming toward the ground with unfathomable speed to slam Shana down hard on the surface before pulling himself up at the last second.

Shana's head slammed down on the concrete with immense force, her world mixing into incoherent shapes and blurs as her mind was scrambled for a moment.

"Shana!" Dart screamed, eyes wide as he saw his baby sister get dealt a blow even he didn't know if he could handle. He wanted to go to her, but he had Rose who still wasn't well.

Shana didn't move, fingers twitching as they grasped for something that wasn't there.

Lavitz felt his heart skip a beat then and, in his fury, he charged at Fruegel without any weapon to aid him.

Fruegel smirked, holding his raised club in one hand to strike and Lavitz's bloody spear in the other.

Lavitz waited until the last possible moment to slide down beneath Fruegel's legs, hopping up and put his whole weight into slamming against Fruegel.

Fruegel may have been a large man, but he also had very poor balance. So he inevitably toppled over, his loss of blood not helping him either.

Lavitz quickly jumped him, forcing his spear back out of Fruegel's grip to thrust it deep into his skull. There was a loud crack instantly which made Lavitz know he had busted his skull wide open.

Rose finally started to regain her senses. She sat up slowly at first and then, upon realizing where she was, she jumped quickly to her feet.

"Easy." Dart warned, getting up as she did. He made sure to knock the last senior warden over the edge with a push as he rose. "The wardens are dead."

Rose picked up her stiletto defensively none the less. "He got his own men with that nerve destroying move then did he?"

Dart nodded, quickly running over to Shana to make sure she was all right now. "Shana?" He cried frantically, lifting her up in his arms to cradle her. "Can you hear me?" He said more urgently.

Shana mumbled something incoherent, looking blankly up at Dart. "Bird…"

Dart helped her to her feet, surprised when she went away from him and instantly drew her bow. But he wasn't about to stop her, not this time.

"Dart…whistle…" She ordered without harshness, aiming her bow carefully.

Dart started. "What?"

Shana's intense eyes flickered to him, then back to where the bird was circling. "Whistle!" She barked, cringing slightly as she felt pain throughout most of her body. Her knees were weak.

Dart did as she said, whistling like he'd learned to do while with his parents in Neet.

The bird's ears perked and it cawed loudly, almost in a crazed manner, before diving again.

Shana waited as long as possible before she let her arrow fly through the air, a heat seeking missile in her mind.

The arrow struck the bird dead center, eliciting a startled and agonized cry from it before it crashed to the ground. It didn't skid either, it just laid there, motionless, as the blood pooled around it and its heart beat its final time.

Fruegel actually tried to get back up after the blow to the head. He fruitlessly swung with minimal energy at Lavitz.

Lavitz scoffed, slamming his spear down into his neck this time in hopes of decapitating the fool. "Idiot." He sneered, looking over to Shana to see if she was well.

Rose growled angrily then, loud enough to get all of their attention. "That is **it**!" She snarled, sprinting at lightning fast speed toward the boar who was still squealing even after so long.

The boar, being so brain damaged, didn't know what was about to happen and so would die in bliss.

Rose slashed her sword straight down the middle of its body, cutting him clear in half. The pieces fell separate ways. She sighed heavily in relief, lowering her stiletto down to her side and truly relaxing for the first time since at the carnival in Lohan.

Everyone just stared at her as if she was some cruel headmaster.

Rose mostly ignored them, rounding on Haschel alone. "Next time you do something, do it all the way!" She snorted, tossing her head into the air in superiority as she walked back to stand a few paces from Dart.

Lavitz had calmed down considerably now, feeling that King Albert was as good as safe at this point. For without Fruegel there would be no guard willing to stand against them. "Shana? You ok?" He murmured with a pained smile.

Shana nodded, "Uh-huh."

And just as suddenly as the peace was obtained, it was gone again. A bone chilling scream split the air, the source being King Albert.

Lavitz spun around faster than a speeding bullet, eyes wide and mouth open as he was made mortified by what was happening.

Somehow another man had snuck in during the commotion, a man clad in a black hooded robe. He was now standing over King Albert. He had a hand stuck deep within Albert's back, ignoring his agonizing scream as he slowly pulled out what he sought after.

King Albert fell in what Lavitz saw to be slow motion flat on his face, body stretched out across the floor in perfect stillness. Yet there was no mark on his back. The deed had been done without harming his body.

The hooded man smirked faintly, holding the brightly glowing multicolored ball carefully in the palm of his hand. "I knew it was here." He nodded the slightest bit. "Moon Gem."

King Albert grit his teeth in pain and anger, eyes filled with rage as he flipped his head sideways to glare at the thief.

"Moon Gem!?" Dart cried, eyes wide.

Lavitz didn't wait to have the question answered, he charged blindly at the man, leaping into the air and transforming in a gust of wind and petals with no effort at all.

The hooded man acted in a similar fashion, brushing the cape of his wear back, a golden orb of light forming and spreading into the shape of a sword.

Lavitz, high above the man, brought his weapon back and dove down to run him through.

The man brought his now fully materialized sword of intricate design with a fiery, flickering blade up in plain sight, reared back in defense.

Lavitz didn't care if he would fight him back; he flew faster in his decent, features contorted in rage.

The man then thrust his long reaching sword full force at Lavitz, striking him dead on in the chest and piercing his heart.

Lavitz sucked in a sharp breath, eyes wide in confusion and movement halted as he felt the blade pierce him, his armor virtually useless.

Dart felt a pang of great intensity, forcing him to clutch at his own chest as he saw Lavitz struck. He could feel his Dragoon Spirit crying out in pain as well, the source of his own ache. "Laviiiiitz!"

Shana's hands instantly shot to her mouth, the same ache filling her.

Lavitz remained in the air for a moment more. The gem on his chest plate disintegrated into green shining particles finer than dust as time seemed to freeze. As the green dust faded he slowly crashed to the floor, thick armor clanging loudly.

Rose started, "The sword…!" She breathed, eyes widening excessively.

As the man moved his sword back to his side, his loose hood fell back away from his face. He should have been bothered, but at the same time he couldn't be bothered to be. He simply stood and stared.

Dart was taken aback to the extreme. His muscles constricted, airways tightened, and eyes widened with the unmistakable look of hatred in their depths. "L-LLOYD!" The scream erupted from his throat.

Lloyd snapped out of it. He whirled about in a hurried frenzy to sprint away to the gap in the wall and jump without thinking over the edge.

Knowing that Lloyd was out of his reach, Dart raced toward Lavitz who lay limp on the cold floor. "Laviiiitz!" He cried desperately, throwing himself down next to him in order to lift him up into a cradle position. "Lavitz! Hang on!" Dart pleaded, shaking him roughly in his arms. "Hey!"

Lavitz's eyes opened a sliver, once bright green eyes clouded. Even his smile was dulled as he reached a shaking hand up to Dart. "I-Is…His Majesty Albert…alright?" He breathed, voice weak.

Dart nodded faintly, mouth turned into a sharp frown. His eyes were beyond sad as he gently took Lavitz's hand. "Yes, yes." As devastated as he was, he still managed to force a pained smile. At least Lavitz was still with them.

Lavitz's smile turned up a little further. "I see. I can…entrust you…with everything." He squeezed out.

Dart started, tears stinging at his eyes. "Lavitz…no!" He shook his head fervently from side to side. "Don't say that! You're going to be fine!" Despite these words he felt it wasn't so. He could feel it, the fading light in his Dragoon Spirit.

Lavitz chuckled feebly, loving Dart's positive thinking even when it was a lie. "No…I can feel it." He murmured, eyes growing heavy. "You can too."

Dart bit his lip down hard, squinting his eyes to try and force the tears back. "No…" Dart whined. "Shana-Shana can heal you! Just like before!"

Lavitz coughed, blood landing on his chin and trickling from the corners of his mouth. "N-No…"

King Albert stared sadly on from his now raised position, back on his knees. "Lavitz…"

Shana stood back, unable to go to him, only able to shake the spirit around her neck. "Come on!" She begged. "Work!" She wasn't even feeling resonance from it. "I said work!" Tears were forming in her brown eyes now. "P-Please…" But all she got was that ever present throbbing pain and the sound of a scream she wasn't sure existed.

Shana clasped both hands around it, biting her lip as hard as Dart was to keep the tears back. She also pressed her eyes shut tight to try and focus. "I have to save him…!" She moaned, soft sobs starting to get through.

Rose looked in what was for her a sad manner over at Shana. "Stop." She murmured dully.

Shana's eyes opened to look at her. "W-What?"

"It's pointless." Rose said in the same emotionless tone. "It won't react to you."

A fire flared in Shana's eyes. "Won't react!? What do you mean won't react!? I'm the White Silver Dragoon!"

Rose shook her head, sighing softly. "Dragoons hit by that sword can not be revived by Dragoon magic. It…is what it was made for." For once there was no glimmer in her eyes as she showed off her knowledge. In fact, there were so many more details of the weapon. She simply gave the bare minimum.

Shana's eyes lost their intensity, heartbreak setting in as her lip began to quiver. "No…" She whispered, shaking her head slowly. "N-No…NO!" But it was so. Shana could lie all she wanted, but there was no denying the ache of her own heart as her Dragoon Spirit cried out in agony.

Rose didn't say a word in response. She returned her sad eyes back to the two men who, once so strong, were now as fragile as Shana.

Lavitz's eyes barely stayed open. His strength to fight this was fading. "Dart, survive…and…" He tried to lock his fingers with Dart's in his last moments, but even that was too much. His hand fell away from Dart, landing with a quiet clang on the floor, his eyes fell shut, and his heart went still.

Warm tears seeped from the corners of Dart's eyes, falling in a slow stream as the pain in his Dragoon Spirit ceased – the ultimate alert that Lavitz was gone. "L-Lavitz…?" Still Dart dared ask, holding his breath despite himself.

King Albert jerked his head to the side, eyes shut tight as he felt tears of his own forming.

Shana burst into heavy sobs, throwing herself at Rose and buried her head in her shoulder. Her once controlled tears broke free, streaming down her face fiercely to soak Rose's top. "N-No!" She moaned, arms scrunched up close to her own body as she laid her hands on the top of Rose's shoulders.

Rose might have withdrawn in any other situation, but at this moment she didn't have the heart to. In all honesty, although she'd never admit it, Rose needed Shana to stand with her as much as Shana needed her.

Thin green beams of light arranged in a circle started to come up from around Lavitz's armor, a small green orb forming as each beam met above the center of his chest plate.

Dart looked in dull confusion at the occurrence. All the while he couldn't keep himself from rubbing Lavitz's hair as he held his head carefully in his hand.

The light burst with energy, blinding them all for a moment before it contained itself to a bright glow as the light headed for the sky.

It was as it began its descent that it caught Rose's attention.

Shana too lifted her head ever so slightly off of Rose to peek around at the glowing light surrounding Lavitz's Dragoon Spirit.

King Albert, bonds broken, held his hands out as the spirit gently sank down into them. It shined as brightly as it had when with Lavitz. It had made its decision clear.

King Albert bit his lip, bowing his head in revere. "Lavitz, thank you." He murmured with bitterness, clasping both hands around the precious stone, the only thing that remained of Lavitz and his memory.

Dart gritted his teeth to the point it was painful, bending his head down as his whole body shook. His hold on Lavitz tightened as well, no longer the magical Dragoon armor covering his body. He wore his normal wear. But in the end it didn't matter. He was as still as ever, breathing nonexistent, and never again would he do as he'd done before.

Dart clutched him closer to his body, cherishing the last time he'd ever be so close to Lavitz. Then, as his bitter hatred and misery completely enveloped him he jerked his head up, screaming to the sky, "Laaaaaaviiiiiiiiiitzzzzz!"

It had been a week since the tragedy, since they told his mother, since they buried him, and since they'd all been forced to cope in their own ways. Dart had chosen to make himself feel better by trying to console Shana who was easily the most upset of them all. Dart didn't know why, and he probably never would because now there was no reason to tell of what was now a painful memory.

Shana coped by bawling her eyes out at random moments throughout the day. No one ever really knew when she'd break and crumple like a piece of paper. All they knew was that Dart was the only one willing and able to soothe her to the slightest degree. Shana also, depending on her mood, took solace in the memories she'd created with Lavitz. They helped more than crying when looked back on at the right moment, but when thought on at the wrong time it just made her cry even more.

Rose chose to remain as emotionless as ever throughout the ordeal. And if you asked anyone outside their circle what they thought of this seemingly rude behavior, the answer would have been that she was an awful person. But really she was in as much pain as any of them, her unusually long lasting silence proving this. For she had not uttered a word since that moment.

King Albert dealt by just being with the people who Lavitz had spoken so generously of. In a way he saw bits and pieces of Lavitz in each of them which, put all together, created Lavitz's whole. It was almost like he wasn't gone; at least that's what Albert wanted to believe.

Haschel hadn't been attached enough to Lavitz to feel any pain personally. However, because he was around the others who were in so much inner turmoil he couldn't help but be a little sad. And when he thought of it in the same light as his daughter's disappearance he was saddened further. In a way, he was his own worst enemy.

Now they were arriving in the little town of Seles, the trek back taking much longer than it should have. But no one was in any real hurry at this point. Their thoughts distracted them all, even Rose, to such a degree that time became insignificant.

Albert was the first to break the silence, kicking dust up as he said, "I still have someplace for shelter…" It was mostly meant to be to himself, but after such a long period of silence everyone's ears heard it perfectly.

Each of their heads turned to him, half expecting more, half believing these few words hadn't been intentional and would lead to more silence.

Dart sighed softly, kicking a pebble. He looked up sadly, seeing that the place was little different than how it had been before. This was just something else to burden his consciousness.

Shana leaned against Dart, not able to enjoy something she would have cherished a matter of days ago. She stifled a sob then, closing her eyes as to pretend she was somewhere else.

After a minute or two more of idleness Dart finally knew it was time to lead his lost team. "We can hide underneath here." He pointed halfheartedly, going over to a place with rubble piled in a stack to start moving it.

Shana and Haschel slowly moved to him, bending down and tossing the pieces of charred wood and other junk off to the side. As they worked, a door was slowly revealed.

King Albert stared a moment before trying to get in among them. "I'll help." He offered, kneeling down next to Dart.

Dart shook his head, scowling faintly. "I can not let you!" He growled, pushing Albert slightly so that he was in Albert's spot and blocking him from the rubble. Normally Dart wouldn't care, but he figured it's what Lavitz would have done…so he did it too.

Albert sighed, hanging his head for a moment before trying again. "Let me do it." He said with the sad tone they all seemed to possess.

Dart paused, looking over his shoulder at Albert.

Albert elaborated. "When I am moving like this, I don't feel pain." Yes, it was true, ever since the Moon Gem had been taken from his body he had been in insurmountable pain. But at this point he wasn't really sure if it was all because of that, or if Lavitz's death was making it last even longer.

Dart stared at him with a deep frown, not sure. But a flash of Lavitz's face was all it took and he nodded, moving to the side to allow Albert access.

Rose didn't move to help, just continued to stand off away from the others who worked diligently. She still couldn't bring herself to get near them. She'd already made the mistake of becoming attached to these people, so she could not let it get deeper. She would not let it be like last time! It was already too close to it as it was.

After about five minutes they'd cleared all of the junk off of the door which led down to a cellar. They all filed down the stairs, taking their positions in the small space as they pleased. Albert sat on a stool in front of the fire, Shana stood in the corner farthest from the stairs, Dart stood at the center, Haschel stood at the foot of the stairs, and Rose leaned back against the wall on the small square up the first part of the stairs.

Once they were situated they waited for someone other than themselves to start a conversation. They each had their own reasons for not wanting to stir things up, each stemming from Lavitz. So instead of getting anywhere, for the next thirty minutes, they let the crackling of the fire Albert had started keep them from enduring complete and utter silence.

Just like when out on the surface of Seles Albert inevitably broke their silence with solemn words. "I owe you and Lavitz a debt of gratitude." He aimed this at Dart.

Dart grimaced, hanging his head while his eyes started stinging for the umpteenth time in the past week. "Lavitz…is no more…" he shook his head slowly, sighing.

Shana moved a hand over her mouth as her lip began to quiver. She then breathed in and out softly to keep herself calm. Dart had taught her this shortly after **it** happened. Once back under control she murmured, "But, we are still alive."

Everyone looked to her with stern, confused expressions. What was she saying? What was that supposed to mean?

She felt she was shrinking as she sensed that the others were misconstruing her words. So she explained herself, lowering her hand so that they would hear her timid words more clearly. "Being alive means we can do anything we want, right?" She shrugged. "I think it is enough for now…I think Lavitz would agree with me." She added, a pained smile passing her lips as memories of him flashed through her head.

Albert grinned broadly, standing. "It reminds me of what Lavitz happily told me about you. That he had met 'guys he could finally call friends.'" He chuckled, a flicker of life shining in his eyes for the smallest of seconds.

Dart half smiled at this, glad to know Lavitz had thought of him and the rest of them so highly.

Albert's happiness slipped, the light in his eyes dulling and mouth turning back down. "Now, I understand why." He muttered before sighing softly.

Dart and the others hung their heads all at once. Even Haschel felt hit hard by the sudden change in tune.

"Dart, Shana, Haschel, and Rose…" he looked to each one as he said their names. "Lavitz was my most loyal and strongest knight, and at the same time, he was my precious friend." A sad smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. "Yes, he was a great 'guy'. And…I would like to show you my gratitude. Thank you." He bowed his head some.

Rose might have snorted at the king's almost pathetic amount of thankfulness, but she barely had what it took to open her mouth. "He was out of luck." She grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared down at them. "I didn't know he had the Dragon Buster." She looked away then, feeling the closest thing to crying as her next words formed. "If I had known it…I would have stopped Lavitz." Yes, it was so. She completely blamed herself for this. If she had been stronger or smarter, they wouldn't be here without Lavitz now. She wouldn't have lost another friend.

Dart saw her shame in not knowing something that could have changed the outcome of the fight so drastically. So he tried to pull her away from blaming herself and get her talking about this Dragon Buster. He sort of wanted to know anyway. "Dragon Buster? What are you talking about?"

Rose's demeanor shifted only a tiny bit, a wry smile forming as she saw plainly what he was trying to do. But she followed nonetheless. "It's a weapon from the old world made only to kill dragons." That was basically it anyway. "Even with the almighty Dragoon armor, it is a mere shroud in front of the Dragon Buster." Her voice became course and strained the closer she came to the end of her sentence. She even had hers fists clenched without her knowledge.

Dart bent over some, body quaking in fury as he clenched both his fists and teeth tight. "Lloyd..." he hissed, eyes shut tight as well. "What kind of plot is he weaving?"

Albert bowed his head some as he thought the same, mourning Lavitz and his one misstep which was now his last.

Rose lowered her head as well, falling back into silence.

Dart slowly ceased shaking as the only sound of the crackling fire soothed his restless soul. And he then rose back up into a standing position, wandering over to Shana to see if she was alright.

Shana sighed faintly, eyes a mite bit brighter than they'd been since then. But it was only by a smidgen. "We are not going to be like this forever." She murmured with a halfhearted smile. "Right?" She really wasn't so sure right now as her heart ached unendingly.

Dart nodded some, liking to see her a little bit happier and more hopeful than she'd been since their loss.

Shana averted her eyes after that, not wanting to say more from fear she would break down again. She couldn't let that happen. It was her chance to be stronger, as strong as Rose. Because, even if Lavitz had been the one to tell her not to compare herself with Rose, doing so allowed her to imagine his voice reprimanding her. It was a funny sort of soothing thing.

Dart shuffled his feet as he walked over to Haschel. He didn't really know what he was looking for in talking to each of them, all he knew was he couldn't help himself. "Now it is more complicated than simply looking for your daughter." Dart half laughed, not meaning it in much of a joking way.

"I'm ok." Haschel nodded, smiling faintly in appreciation of his concern. "I can go look for her some other time." Haschel then smirked, nodding. "But we have something we have to do now."

Dart nodded in grim agreement. Yes, they did, so very much to do.

"You found the way thanks to Shana, didn't you?" Haschel cocked his head to the side slightly, hoping he might get more of the details.

Dart wasn't willing to give the details he knew Haschel sought. He simply nodded for even though Shana was alive and well now, perfectly fine, Hellena was the place where Lavitz had fallen. Speaking in any way of the damned place would only work him up to the point of tears. And he'd had enough of those.

Haschel saw plainly Dart's discomfort on the matter and ended the conversation. "The only thing left is…which way to go." He shrugged, leaning back without a brace, mind wandering away from here.

Dart looked back to Albert who remained ever solemn, and he felt he still didn't want to pester him with questions about what had been taken from him. So instead he walked up the stairs to Rose, leaning against the wall to mirror her. "I am sorry." He murmured, a deep frown set in on his features.

Rose looked from the corner of her eye at him, mouth a mouth a flat line.

"I feel awful for making you accompany us into such a mess." He sighed in guilt. "You shouldn't of had too."

Rose snorted at him, the first involuntary sound of disbelief since that day. "I am the one following you." She said simply, turning slightly to face Dart more.

Dart smiled faintly as she said this, unable to deny he was glad she enjoyed them to such an extent.

Rose averted her eyes, not liking to display any amount of sadness to others. "Anyway, Basil will be finished soon if we don't do something."

Dart hung his head and shook it sadly in knowing. But he would not believe this was an inevitable fate. He believed that if they worked together a better end could be reached.

The corners of Rose's mouth twitched upward, her eyes moving back to Dart. "I am looking forward to watching what you will do in the future." And with that she leaned back on the wall, deeming the conversation over.

Albert then stirred, begrudgingly calling all the others attention to say, "I guess I have to talk about it with you." He shrugged, seating himself. "The truth about what Lloyd took from me…everything about it…"

Dart, instead of walking back down, sat down on the stairs. He had a feeling this story called for such a thing.

Albert sucked in a deep breath, closing his eyes as he cleared his thoughts. Once he felt completely calm he reopened his eyes and began, "The story goes back eleven thousand years. Winglies who ruled the earth were defeated in the Dragon Campaign and disappeared." Everyone nodded. "However, their sacred objects were scattered around the world. They had the Winglies magic power concealed in them which only they could use." He started to make hand gestures at this point. "One of them was handed down in Serdio, and it has been sealed inside the body of each crown heir, because of the fear that the power could bring evil." Albert cringed as he thought of all the ways Lloyd could use the precious object. "The sacred object which has been taken is the secret treasure of Serdio. The Moon Gem."

Rose thought of something as Albert seemed to end his tale. "Where did Lloyd find out about it?" Her eyes were narrowed into slits, mouth curved into a snarl, and whole body tensed. She had a sneaky suspicion it was someone at the heart of Basil, maybe even the king himself. And if it was the latter Rose would become even more disdainful of this man, Lavitz's 'replacement'.

Albert saw without struggling the anger burning in her eyes. She had cared about Lavitz despite her cold demeanor and as such would hate him for what he had to say. "I was foolish." He admitted, blaming himself as much as Rose did herself. "I bought his intelligence and employed him as an advisor. Probably he was employed by Imperial Sandora."

As Albert said it, it hit Dart. He had seen that hooded figure before when Lavitz had first shown them to King Albert. He had been the other man besides Noish. And this only made Dart further hate himself.

Rose growled lightly at what she knew would be his response. "That's right." She nodded. "Once he obtains the secret treasure, he is the crown heir of Serdio both in name and reality. The birth of the conqueror King Doel." Albert was such a fool in her eyes. "That would be the end of Basil."

Dart grit his teeth in anger not toward her per say, but toward her blatant statement of what she perceived to be the truth. "His Majesty King Albert is still alive here!" He cried, shooting up into a standing position. "The war is not over yet! Basil is **not** finished!"

Rose flipped her hair back out of her face, looking deep into Dart's angry eyes as she said incredulously. "What is a king to do if he doesn't have a castle to go back to and a large force to protect him?" It wasn't a matter of having the will to fight it, it was simply that without the Moon Gem Albert was little more than what they were – a common person.

Dart shook his head sadly. He hated to admit it, but it was true.

Albert frowned deeply, arms crossed. "Indeed, I am helplessly alone." He perked only slightly as he reached for his Dragoon Spirit. "However, as the Dragoons of yore lead humans to victory…" his spirit shined brightly in his hand as he held it out.

Dart, Shana, and then Rose followed him in pulling theirs out, each shining brightly with its own signature light. Only Haschel remained unmoving, having no place in this moment. He was no Dragoon.

Just as quickly as they'd pulled them out they were letting them fall back down to rest on their chests, hung by a string. Albert then picked back up where he'd left off, "…we still have a chance to overcome this!" His expression hardened. "We have only one target, Emperor Doel in the Black Castle."

Rose smirked faintly. "You have such a daring strategy. But it's not bad." She commended him, rather interested in how they would pull this one off.

Shana perked more so than usual. "Let's do it!" She wanted to avenge Lavitz by ending the war. She knew it's what he would want.

"We can do this together!" Dart nodded firmly, devious smirk passing his lips despite how planning without Lavitz made him ache.

Haschel swung his fist before him, anticipating a little more action after a week of downed spirits and slow going healing. "My iron fist might be able to help you."

Albert took out his weapon, twirling it about as expertly as Lavitz once had. "I will show them the full force of my javelin, which I learned how to use from Lavitz!" This is how he kept Lavitz alive too, feeling him near every time he picked up his weapon to fight.

Dart nodded to him. "Lavitz…!" He growled in anger yet with longing all at once, fists clenched before his face. "We won't let your death be in vain!"

**I bet you can tell which boss I hated the most in the game. Hint, hint - it's the boar. lol**

**And so he is dead. Poor Lavitz. He was one of my favorite characters and I hate to have to kill him. But I'm staying true to the game, so kill him I must. It was also a convenient way to have a ShanaxLavitz relationship yet still end the relationships the way they were in the game.**

**Now that we've reached this point, I'd really love to know what you thought of his death scene. Did I put enough emotion into it? Did it strike you harder than the game's death scene? (I hope. That one was pretty bad.) Do not hesitate to tell me the truth. I strive to improve in every way possible. Please and thank you! Review! :)**


	17. Broken City of Kazas

**Another update! Have fun with it. It's kind of ridiculous how much I stretched this last arc of the first disc, but oh well. What's done is done. Only a few chapters left for the first disc.**

Deep in the heart of the Black Castle the almighty conqueror Emperor Doel sat at the throne. It was a red chair with a lever attached to the side that raised it up to a higher level in the room to further demonstrate his dominance. Pink crystals hung from the curved metal over his lifted chair, the head of a devil was crafted into the black metal that wrapped around the area in front of him starting at the waist and coming down to his feet as it looped completely around the chair to connect with the wall just behind him.

The ceiling was raised a good a hundred feet from the floor, walls left and right of the throne creating a length of about fifty feet, and the area in front of the emperor was nearly seventy feet. As a whole the room spanned three thousand five hundred feet.

The walls behind the throne were a rare stained glass of dazzling mixtures of colors, images of mythical creatures created by the refractions of light hitting the mirror. And oddly enough the makers of the glass had made it so no matter how the light hit, or if there was none at all, there was always some image. Right now the exquisite images depicted a battle as old and well known as time. It was of the Dragon Campaign. All the other walls were titanium, giant sized arrows jutting out periodically to offer the room an even more intimidating appearance.

The flooring was gray and stone cold, a long rug with a repeating image of a green sun surrounded by a golden circle running the length of the room. It had been specially sown so that it would stretch up to the short stairs leading to the throne. A short red rug with a golden outline was then placed on the length of the stairs up to and underneath the throne.

But ask anyone who had the privilege of being in the room and they'd tell you the most captivating aspect was the line of devices set to frame the carpet for about a quarter of their length. From the devices spouted a strange green flame reaching ten feet into the air that screamed of danger and control.

The giant wooden doors on the far side of the room swung open then, a thin man with silver hair stepping through them and striding the distance over to the end of the sun rug.

Emperor Doel stared down from his high up perch at the man, a faint smirk on his lips. He was surprised he had returned since he had been given the news that, "It seems Hellena fell."

Lloyd snorted at the emperor's lack of faith in his abilities. "Don't be so anxious." He brushed his hair back from his face, smirking conceitedly. "I got what I needed."

Doel eyed Lloyd with uncertainty and a small frown. "So leaving the girl at large is one of your schemes, huh?" It seemed odd to him that Lloyd would suddenly change his mind about the matter.

Lloyd rolled his eyes, hand on his hip as he looked away from Doel. "It's none of your business." Normally such actions before Doel would warrant punishment, but Lloyd was special. So he could not, no matter how much Doel wanted to, be touched.

Doel growled lightly under his breath, eyes holding an angry look for half a second. But he quickly got over it. "It doesn't matter." He scoffed. "I will soon hold sway over all Serdio. And, your plan will be completed." He nodded toward Lloyd, smiling a little to show he had not forgotten that all his power was in part due to Lloyd's cooperation.

Lloyd shook his head, face stern in all aspects. "No." He murmured, crossing his arms over his chest. "No, it's just the beginning." He then turned to leave, stopping to remind Doel as his last farewell. "At least, be careful not to get carried away. Don't be burned in a red fire."

Doel's eyes narrowed at the thought of him messing this up and being stopped. He was perfect! "Nobody can stop me!" He cried, standing to his feet.

Lloyd shrugged, heading off again and back out the wooden doors to begin his trek to his next destination. It would take a while to get there too. So leaving now was just right.

Doel seethed, throwing his arms into the air. "I will not, even if I have to sell my soul to the devil!"

Having seen the place from afar already Dart wasn't as surprised that the dark foreboding city on the way to Hellena was in fact Kazas. And now that he thought about it it made perfect sense. Such a place as this was bound to have the most sinister of looks considering the darkest man in the country was somewhere within.

Dart's bad opinion of the place was only solidified as they stepped foot in the city. It was just as dark and depressing as the clouds surrounding it. All the buildings were of varying shades of gray and the stone path was of matching darkness. Cramped wiring was strung overtop of the houses while the chimneys of each home pumped out thickening clouds of smoke which Dart figured contributed to the overhanging clouds that, from what Dart had observed, were ever present. And there was no space between any house, nothing unique to differentiate between them, and what was more was they all were aligned perfectly. It was a straight shot to the unimaginably large castle in the distance due to this.

It helped them find their way much easier since it was in the black of night and only small lamps set sporadically along the homes lit their way.

As they went they noticed there were also soldiers patrolling the streets for reasons Dart and the rest weren't entirely sure of. But their initial reaction was to swiftly get away from the soldier's prying eyes. They feared word of them might have spread here already and this was the cause of the patrolling. So they ducked into the weapon shop right next to them.

Dart slammed the door behind them, leaning heavily back against the door as he sighed. "This is great. Sandora soldiers patrolling the streets."

Haschel lowered his head some and shut his eyes as he tried to think about this situation. "You think it's because of us?" He looked up to try and read the expressions on their faces.

Albert was the first to respond. "No, I don't think so." He rubbed his chin as he thought of how to explain this. "From what I've been told by my aids and soldiers over the course of this war the city of Kazas has been slowly deteriorating from the start. If I had to guess these guards aren't looking for us, they're looking for runaways."

Rose frowned faintly, arms crossed over her chest. "Yes, it is so. Otherwise they would have gone after us just now."

Shana's gaze was locked on the ground, hands intertwined. "But…what if they just didn't see us?"

Rose looked to her, sensing by her timid ways that she was still obviously shaken by the week before. So Rose refrained from being too much of a smart-alec, "They may be pathetic, but they aren't that stupid. Like the guards in Hellena, they know better than to let people like us get by them."

Shana remained silent. She just couldn't find her voice after hearing the mention of Hellena. Saying Hellena was almost as bad as saying Lavitz's name.

Dart knew what her silence meant and swiftly moved from his place over to her side in order to wrap a large arm around her waist so as to stop her hysteria before it came to the surface.

"Well, we have to go sooner or later if we're going to do this. So we might as well take our chances." Haschel shrugged.

Rose smirked a bit as she thought to add, "And we can always kill them if they think about messing with us."

All but her shook their heads in the negative. "No." Dart muttered. "We don't need to draw attention to ourselves right now. Then they'd definitely know we were up to something."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I think we could handle it."

"Come on guys." Albert moved to put his hand on the doorknob and push it open. Only he didn't get the chance. The door was thrown open suddenly and Albert jumped back.

In came a man dressed in a white shirt, brown pants, and a blue cape. He was carrying quite a bit of things in his arms and he showed a bright smile as he looked them over. "Well, hi there!" He chirped.

They all stared with a brow raised at him and his odd behavior.

Upon finishing looking them over the man jumped ever so slightly, grin widening. "Can I talk to you a little?" His eyes were hopeful, but he didn't wait for an answer. He grabbed firmly onto Dart's free arm and dragged him further back in the room.

The others followed as their leader was pulled away, not really wanting to be a part of this but knowing that they couldn't rightly leave him.

"Alright!" He sucked in a deep breath and let it out. "You guys look like adventurers too!" He nodded firmly to himself, his excitement building all the while.

Dart took his arm back, brushing it off before shrugging slightly and looking to the others to see if they were going along as well.

"Well, well!" The man chuckled. "I can tell just from how you look." He looked them over a second time just because he could. "Yep. And you've also been on a very risky adventure. Well, well!"

Dart smiled falsely, chuckling nervously. Was this guy for real? Sure they were adventurers, but there was no way he was like he claimed to be. He had no dirt on him, no visible scars, and he was way to perky. He looked more like a salesman.

The man saw that they didn't believe him a bit and quickly went to prove himself. "I can smell it from your aura!" But this didn't help his cause either, so he tried a different route. "By the way! I have a great story to tell you because you obviously appreciate the real stuff."

They all exchanged looks of incredulousness. Yet Dart nodded to the man all the same.

The man leaned in real close to Dart, cupping a hand around his mouth. "Just between you and me, I defeated the dragon, Feyrbrand."

Dart started, opening his mouth to profess his disbelief in this man's lies. The only thing that stopped him was Shana as she squeezed his hand lightly.

Dart looked down at her, expression puzzled.

Shana smiled halfheartedly back, silently telling him to just let it go and allow this sad man to pretend he was as great as they were.

However, the man had caught Dart's initial look and frowned deeply, brow furrowed in mock hurt. "Oh, you don't trust me?" He yanked back away from Dart, crossing his arms.. "Then take a look at this!" He cried, swiping an item from his pocket and shoved it into Dart's face.

Dart took a step back, not liking that thing in his face. It gave him a sickening feeling, one similar to when he'd fought Feyrbrand, and he scowled darkly at the item and then to the man.

Shana shrunk back with Dart, body quivering as she felt it too. It was far too the feeling of dizziness when in the poison forest. So she clutched onto Dart with more strength to bring herself comfort.

The man didn't like the looks he was getting, so he hurried on with his story. "This is the feather of Feyrbrand!" He grinned with pleasure. "Woah!" He cried suddenly, jumping away as a startled look came to his face. "Don't touch it! You'll be poisoned by it."

Rose was quickly losing her patience with this fraud, her hand gripping tightly around the top of her stiletto. "Liar." She said beneath her breath, feeling only slightly better.

The man went on, deaf to Rose's word. "You trust me, right?" A pause. "Now I want to introduce this great product to you!" The man was smirking now, confident that he had them right where he wanted them, as he pulled the advertised item out from the mounds of things he held.

They all shook their heads in disbelief.

The man went on ignoring them, moving animatedly. "It's a powerful drug that even beats dragons – the dragon beater!" He allowed a moment for the epic nature to sink in before continuing. "And for a limited time offer I'll give you this dragon's feather for free!"

Rose had her lips parted to say something curt when her attention was drawn away from him toward the door at the front which had been flung open to reveal a Sandora soldier.

The soldier moved quickly toward them, staring sternly at each of them including the man. "Is there a guy who defeated Feyrbrand in here!?" He spat, eyes intense.

Dart and the others knew that moving to much would mean suspicion, so they remained planted to their spot with false smiles on most of their faces.

The man who was undoubtedly a salesman slowly went around Dart, walking nonchalantly down the hall to the door as to leave.

The soldier gave Dart and his friends one last scan before swirling about to face the leaving man. "Hey!" He cried, moving quickly toward him. "It must be you!" He latched onto the man's arm firmly. "Come with me!"

The man swallowed hard, sweat forming on his brow. "Wait-Wait a minute! I'm just a businessman! I was lying about the dragon!" The fear in his eyes was prominent, more so than the hope of tricking Dart had been previously.

Haschel chuckled in amusement at this, getting heated glares from most everyone else as he did so.

Although Rose more so than anyone else didn't care too much. "Don't be mad at him. It's what the guy gets." She scoffed. "Lying like that is so stupid, especially when it's to the faces of the ones who actually did it."

Dart rolled his eyes. "He didn't know we did it. He was just doing what he had to for a living."

Rose shook her head. "Whatever."

King Albert rubbed the back of his neck nervously, not liking how the two appeared to be growing irritable with each other. So before any more could be said between the two he said, "It doesn't really matter now does it?" He paused to allow them time to nod, and then continued. "Right now we need to find a way into the castle, not gripe about some random guy and his antics."

Rose glared at the wall instead of them so as not to stir up any more trouble. "He's right. We're being ridiculous. The only thing that matters is taking down Doel in his castle."

Everyone nodded quickly.

"Let's move!" Dart directed them back to the door, creeping out carefully due to lingering insecurities concerning the soldiers. Sure, the one hadn't recognized them as the ones who brought down Hellena or even capable of taking down a dragon but he didn't care.

They walked in a straight line, never looking anywhere but forward in case the soldiers could somehow tell by the look in their eyes what they intended to do.

As they went they noticed the walkways slowly change to a finer stone as well as the clustering clearing up. The houses became slightly nicer and unique with soldiers loitering all over the place, giving Dart the feeling that these were their living quarters. Not much a reward for loyalty if you asked him.

They were all equally amazed when they managed to get up to the front bridge without being chased off by a soldier of any sort. They'd been given a few strange looks as they grew nearer, but that was about it. That was too bad too, Dart was rather looking forward to a little bit of a scuffle.

"Dart, wait!" Albert cried, jumping up toward the front to stick his arm out in front of Dart.

Dart cocked his head and raised a brow. "What?"

"Look over there." Albert pointed with his other hand, allowing the first to drop back down to his side.

Dart followed his finger, eyes setting on a pair of soldiers pacing up and down the bridge. They were far more focused than the others they'd seen thus far, a dull seriousness in the depths of their dark eyes. It made Dart shudder.

Haschel sighed. "Well, this won't work."

Rose rolled her eyes at them. "You should have known it wouldn't be so easy. This is the heart of this half of the country after all." She leaned back on one of the two small pillars on each side of the bridge. "So go on, start thinking."

Dart frowned lightly at her, not liking how she liked to stay mostly impartial to the decisions made. And now was no exception. She had her eyes closed and was simply listening. "Maybe we should do some more research." Dart shrugged, looking for Rose's approval.

Rose opened an eye a sliver to see if he was still looking to her to know how to do things. She was annoyed when she saw he was indeed doing just that. He needed to learn to be confident in his choices, no matter how stupid others thought they were.

Albert held his chin in a hand, thinking deeply. "No…that would take too much time…" He thought out loud. "But…maybe…"

Dart perked. "Maybe what?"

Albert tried his best to grab onto the memory. "When I was young, perhaps four, I remember being taken here to see my uncle. I ran off that way," Albert pointed far to their left to a narrow path around a couple of houses that led in a downward slope so that they could not see what lay at the end. "And if I remember right it was kind of like a fortress."

Shana spoke up. "Wasn't that even before the war though?" She couldn't be entirely sure, but she thought she recalled that old lady in Hoax saying the war started when Albert was six or something.

Albert grimaced. "Yeah, at least speaking officially." Albert walked back away from the bridge, sighing heavily as he turned about to face the group. "But thinking about it now I'm pretty sure this was the surest sign of what was to come. I was just too small to grasp the fact."

Rose cringed faintly as she was reminded of herself in the fact she had not foreseen the fate that awaited her former friends, Lavitz included, when she could've done something about it.

The others simply thought of what was so great about slums built prior to the war.

"We should check it out." Rose finally said as she began to grow irritated by their lack of initiative. "It might be worth a shot." She pushed back off of her support, eyes intense.

"Albert, you know what you're doing right?" Dart mused. "So you should lead us over there."

Shana shook her head at Dart's denseness. "Dart, he was four! It's not like he came over here every day or something, he lived on the opposite side of Serdio!" She held her aching head. "And besides, it's been over twenty years since then. It's bound to have changed."

For a moment all was eerily silent, everyone more than slightly shocked by Shana's outburst. Dart was most shocked after having known her for so long. Yet he was the first to speak up. "I guess."

Albert stepped forward. "No, it's ok." He assured all of them, primarily Shana. "I'll do it."

Rose glared at him as if he were a monster to be killed as quickly as possible. She didn't trust him like she had slowly come to trust Lavitz, so she wasn't sure she wanted him leading them around blindly. She would much prefer someone like Dart, even if he had no clue what he was doing.

Albert looked with slight confusion over at Rose as she sent him a heated look. Since he didn't know her like he did Shana and Dart he wasn't sure what her deal was. "What?"

Rose's glare intensified. "You're a newbie." She hissed, snarl curving on her lips. "So don't push your luck with me by trying to take the top position."

Albert's frown deepened. "What are you talking about?"

Dart saw that Rose was swiftly losing any patience she had with Albert and moved hastily to take him by the arm and pull him aside. "Albert…" he said close his ear. "You shouldn't mess with her."

Albert was getting annoyed at this point. "What are you all talking about? She's no better than anyone else. I shouldn't have to treat her better or keep more distance."

Dart sighed irritably. "She's not like most people nowadays." Dart attempted to explain. "She expects certain things and she is incredibly hard to figure out. But believe me when I say you don't want to be on the wrong side of her."

Albert glanced back over to Rose who now had her arms crossed back over her chest with that ever present glare of hers set on her face. She was even tapping her foot in impatience.

Albert sighed heavily. "So she's basically the leader then?"

Dart shook his head fervently in the negative. "No, not really. I mean, at first she wanted to be, but after so long she started to step down and let me do most things." He had begun to rub his head as he tried his best to convey the ways that were Rose's personality. "She…she just has trust issues. It takes a lot to win her over." He chuckled.

Albert was not amused in the least, but he decided he'd try to understand the way she worked. It was strange indeed. And he immediately thought to Lavitz and wondered how in the world he managed to deal with her controlling nature. Lavitz rather preferred to be at the front as well. "Ok…"

Rose sighed with faint anger. "Are you going or what?"

Albert glared back at her before nodding and moving to the front to take them along the narrow path to the area he hoped would still be there after all these years.

It took approximately thirty minutes before the path widened and they found themselves high up above a place of old looking wood structures. And from what Dart could see at his angle it was rather poorly built. There was no beauty in it at all. It was perhaps even worse than the uniform buildings at the front of Kazas.

"Is this a fortress?" Haschel asked as he finally reached a point where he too could look on at the area below. "It is the saddest thing I've ever seen." He thought back to his own poorly constructed home that still seemed a better living arrangement than this.

Rose looked completely unimpressed as she bent over, hands on her knees, to get a better look. "It's pathetic." She scoffed, standing back up. "And it looks like people actually live down here."

Shana was taken aback by this notion. "Really?"

Rose nodded a bit. "Yes, because there are lights down there." She pointed down at the doorways, not half as annoyed by Shana anymore as she was with Albert acting as Lavitz's replacement.

Dart bent down to look, seeing that it was indeed true. "I wonder if they can help then."

"Only one way to find out." Albert exclaimed, running on down the dirt path and onto a board of wood as he went around the curve. It was a short piece used solely as a last resort to protect them from rain. So it was splintered at the end and Albert had to jump down a little to the next piece of similar fashion.

Dart shrugged, grabbing Shana's hand instinctively before following after the eager king.

Haschel started, pausing to look back at the disgruntled Rose. "You don't have to be so grumpy." He half laughed. "He didn't exactly ask for this."

Rose growled lightly at Haschel. "I don't care. Either way it's his carelessness that brought us to Hellena and what ultimately caused Lavitz's death."

Haschel shrunk back some at her harsh tone. But it was that hint of bitter sadness that kept him from being rude right back. "Just give him a chance." Haschel tried to reason.

Rose snorted at the thought. "I'll give him a chance when he earns it." She tossed her head into the air, leaving Haschel behind to follow swiftly after the others who had already managed to get down off the ever shortening roofs and were slowly heading down a plank to the first level.

Haschel shook his head, sighing at her and her stubbornness before he too went after the rest. He didn't exactly expect them to wait for him.

As they entered the only door on that level they were met with a site just as bad as the outside of this slum like area. The wood flooring had multiple holes in it, and pretty big ones at that, cobwebs lingered in any and all places that no one bothered touching on a regular basis, and the slightly raised flooring was held by a rather weak looking wood pillar. Although Dart wouldn't exactly call it a pillar. And there appeared to be a short set of stairs on each side of them as they went up the first set.

One to their right led to a fireplace which seemed incredibly dangerous considering their home was composed completely of wood. However it looked very underused, so Dart didn't fret too much. At their front was a longer more ladder like set which, upon looking up it, led to a few beds that were unbelievably dusty. And then to their left was a set of two short stairs that went further down into the structure.

"We should go this way." Albert said unnecessarily, pointing as he headed that way.

Rose snorted. "Yeah, couldn't figure that one out Einstein."

Albert glared at her from the corner of his eye, barely able to keep himself from snapping back with equal sarcasm.

Dart reached for Rose, pulling her back much to her surprise. "Rose, leave him alone."

Rose's eyes flared dangerously, a fire unlike anything else burning passionately in their depths. "Why should I!?" she snapped loud enough for all to hear. "It's his fault Lavitz is dead now!"

Albert cringed, looking sadly away from them down at his feet. Yes…it was true. Albert couldn't help but feel that if he had simply paid more attention to how Sandora was moving that he might not have been captured and then they wouldn't have had to come to rescue him. And then…Lavitz wouldn't have been murdered.

Dart started, sucking in a sharp breath. "Rose!" He knew she thought as such simply by how she was treating Albert, but he was appalled that she would say it so bluntly. "Don't say that about your friend!"

Rose's eyes burnt with increasing intensity. "He's **not** my friend!" She snarled, pulling away from Dart and pushed Albert roughly to get by him and head down the ladder at the end of the mini steps.

Dart scratched his head in nervousness. "Albert…" he muttered, stepping forward next to him. "She doesn't mean it." Before with Shana and Lavitz he had been able to say this with confidence, but now he wasn't so sure. She had managed to grow attached to them despite her attempts at remaining distant and she once again got hurt because of this. So he honestly wasn't sure about her feelings right now.

Albert snorted. "Yes she does." He grumbled, smiling painfully. "I could see it in her eyes. She thinks very low of me."

Dart cringed. Yes, he was right. And the fact he was willing to voice that fact was amazing. Most people would try to deny it as Dart had. Perhaps admitting it showed how much he truly hated it. "She'll get used to you."

"Somehow I doubt it." He paused to look where she'd disappeared and the other two who were headed down. "I also saw how it hurt her to say the truth. So if she is as you say, she won't let this go very easily. And she won't likely let anyone else in."

Dart sighed heavily. "We'll just have to see." He shrugged, jumping over the stairs with two hops to land on the area right beside the ladder. "But right now we have work to do."

Albert chuckled as he thought to Rose. "And going too slow will only make Rose's favor of me drop further." It was meant to be a half joke to break the tension, but it ended up making the two fret further and pick up the pace to get down with the rest of them.

As they dropped down they were met with Rose's icy glare before she flipped her head skyward and stomped on to take her position as leader and guide them along the strangely put together roof the ladder led to and then down another longer ladder.

On this floor the wood was put together smoothly, a sign that they'd finally reached a section that was no longer a combo of a roof and walkway. And there were two doors, one set just beside the ladder and another on the opposite side. "That one." Rose said in an incomplete sentence, expecting them to know by how she moved which one she indicated.

"Why not-?" Albert started, quickly shutting his mouth as he remembered who he was talking to and caught her infuriated look.

"Because I said so." She said curtly, going on without caring if any one of them followed. She was stuck on loathing Albert and could not fit much else in her head.

Inside the far door it was rather cramped, all of them barely fitting in. It didn't help that there was a small child standing at the center of the doorway not too far in. "Welcome to the ruins of the underground fortress!" The kid exclaimed excitedly. "You guys look like new faces! You want to join the New Serdio Party?" His eyes were as big as bowling balls as he looked onto their group eagerly.

Dart knew how Rose would react to the kid, so he quickly moved to the front so that he would be the one doing most of the talking. "Yeah, we're new." He nodded. "But I don't know what the Serdio Party is."

The kid laughed heartily at this. "I can't tell you until afterward." He grinned brightly.

"After? After what?" Dart muttered quizzically.

The child laughed again. "See, I want to let you in, but I need to ask three questions." The kid said earnestly, a sneaky sort of smile on his lips nonetheless. "I have to check you out!"

There was a simultaneous groan from both Rose and Haschel. This made the two look strangely at one another, Haschel smiling faintly at her while she just stared and somehow managed to keep any amount of annoyance toward him from her face. She actually might be able to say she had no bad feelings toward Haschel in that moment.

"Alright!" The kid clapped his hands together. "First question, which country do you want to win, Basil or Sandora?"

Dart didn't bother getting confirmation from the others on this, but he needed to ask, "If I answer right, does it count for them?"

The kid frowned deeply, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose so!"

Dart smiled. "Ok, then I'll have to say that I can't rightly choose a side." He shook his head. "Even though I'm from Basil the important thing is to end the war as soon as possible, not winning or losing." Even at his young age this is what his father and mother had taught him. Winning and losing wasn't as big as everyone played it out to be.

The child's face lit up. "I think so too!" He chirped. "Always hate or spite remains after the fight, regardless of whether you win or not."

Rose raised a brow as these words passed the kid's lips. It was rather smart and almost wise what he was saying. She hadn't ever seen it in a child of his age.

"Now, the second question! During the war, what should powerless kids like us do?"

Dart easily thought up what he figured to be a proper answer. "They should take care at home." He smiled unconsciously at this. "We can not send kids to battle, but somebody has to take care so that the people fighting have someplace to come back to."

The kid nodded fervently. "I agree! This is what even kids can do." He was glad that he was better than a few he'd found wandering around that thought no matter how old you were you could fight. "And the last question is up!"

Dart looked at the kid eagerly, so close to ending this game. And he could feel the annoyance wafting from Rose. She was definitely getting tired of this. "Yes?"

"Why do people fight?" Before starting this group the boy had to think about this one for quite a while before finding an answer. However he expected it to be much easier for a warrior.

Dart scoffed at this ease of this question. "To protect something." He nodded firmly, a confident smile planted on his face. "If war is to obtain or destroy something, I'll throw my sword away now. I only fight to protect."

The kid was jumping up and down now. "Yeah! I think so too! People should only fight to protect something! I learned that from my grandpa."

"You had a good grandpa." Dart praised. "But you are...?"

The child stepped back some to allow them all to better fit in the tight area. "I am Popo." He said simply. "I am a representative of the New Serdio Party."

"You still haven't told us exactly what that is." Shana piped up, bent down with her hands on her knees so that she was more at Popo's level.

"Oh! I am campaigning to help people who are having hard times because of the war." He smiled brightly at Shana, liking how she had a sweet demeanor.

Albert had been taking it all in from farther back, now taking the opportunity to speak up as well as make it closer to the front. "It is amazing. I heard about the party, but I didn't think the representative would be this young."

Popo perked, squinting as if it would help him get a better look at Albert. "Oh…you. Did we meet somewhere?" He swore he knew the man before him. It was a faint recollection, but he knew he wasn't wrong.

Albert chuckled softly at the kid. "We've never met before, but you might know my face." In times like this it wouldn't surprise him if everyone in Sandora had been forewarned about running into him. "I am Albert, the King of Basil."

Popo's mouth hit the floor and excitement level shot up through the roof at this. "Oh my god! You-you-you are…King Albert!?"

Albert nodded. "Yes."

The kid did a complete flip right there in the small space, unable to contain himself. "Here! Let me show you ahead!" He insisted, immediately shooting into a series of backward flips as he went on the only way that was possible at this point.

Dart turned to the others, keeping a laugh in as he said, "We might as well, right? He could be useful." He mostly spoke to Rose, and everyone knew it.

Rose averted her eyes, arms crossed resolutely over her chest. "Maybe, but we need to get to it quick." She grumbled flatly.

Dart inwardly sighed, turning back around. "Come on guys, before we lose him!"

The boy never stopped with his flips and excited cries as he led them through twists and turns of cluttered stairs. It was obvious that they boy was very familiar with the layout and was not too shabby at acrobatics either. Now all he needed was a map of the castle in that head of his and they'd be set.

They were all gathered in a slightly larger section of flat floor than where they'd been when first talking to him. So they were more comfortable and better prepared to talk to the kid once he calmed down.

It took a minute more of flipping around like a crazy person, but Popo finally managed to get himself under control. Or at least he stopped flipping, simply bouncing on the balls of his feet instead. "I've been waiting for this day to come!" He squealed, hands trembling up at his chest. "The day King Albert liberates Kazas and sets us free!"

Dart nodded, still smiling despite the seriousness of the situation. He just couldn't help it when this kid managed to be so full of life like he was. "That's what we are here for." He nodded. "We will end the war now."

Popo's bouncing lessened further as he realized something, the first signs of a frown showing on his face. "But, I don't think these few people can break through the defenses of the Black Castle." He murmured timidly, finger touching lightly on his lips.

Albert waved his worries off; somehow confident in himself and his power he obtained from Lavitz even after such a short time of having it. "Don't worry, we can do it." He smiled softly at the kid. "We can't tell you how though."

Popo's frown deepened at this. He didn't like having to believe in something that they weren't willing to divulge to him.

Albert knew he shouldn't, but he did it after a quick glance back at Rose who he could practically see the steam rolling off of. "They say that the power once was the card that liberated humans from Winglies. Now, it is the ace to open up our own fate."

Popo's face grew brighter at this, satisfied by this enough to relax. "Ah, it's like a dream…" he sighed contentedly.

Rose growled loudly so that she was sure they all would hear her perfectly. "Don't waste time babysitting like that! Why don't you think about how to get into the castle?"

Popo cowered some under her intense gaze and the sound of her harsh tone. He already knew he didn't like her. "I...I am just a kid." He murmured timidly, twiddling his thumbs to half distract him from her. "But I can show you the way in the castle!" He perked, smiling again.

Dart clenched both his fists, jumping forward eagerly at this. "Can you!?"

Popo's grin widened. "Yes! This place used to be a fortress, so there is a secret path to get to the Black Castle!" He couldn't believe that he was actually helping the King of Basil. This was amazing.

"Secret path?" Dart's eagerness grew, him looking to Albert as he might have Lavitz, a certain gleam of excitement in both their eyes. And yet, it was not the same. "Now we are closer to Doel!"

"I knew it was what this place was for." Albert said triumphantly.

Rose snorted as well as rolled her eyes. "Don't get cocky."

Albert growled lightly at her despite the fact he really shouldn't have. He even glared at her some before turning back to Popo.

"Come with me now!" He was jumping up and down again as his excitement level started to climb. "It's just around this stretch of stairs!" He zoomed off up the stairs then, doing flips every now and then.

Shana giggled softly. "He has so much energy."

Haschel chuckled. "Yeah, kind of like my daughter used to…"

At the end of the stairs they found themselves in a room with a gaping hole at the center. Fixated around it were thick wooden boards that met high above the hole to form a triangle which appeared to be the support for this room. But other than the strange design, there was very little to see. There was but a dim kerosene lamp on a table in one far corner, a few barrels in the other, and the ever present crowd of cobwebs all throughout.

Popo sighed as they caught up in a mixture of tiredness and relief. "I almost gave up when I heard Bale was taken, I thought all my campaigning was in vain." He wiped his forehead which was starting to get hot, smile ever bright. "But I found out you are alive, Your Majesty, and we can still fight!" His eyes grew brighter and larger still. "I now see the future! Good luck!"

Dart nodded. "Yes, we will defeat Doel, and end the war." And if for nothing else it would be to honor Lavitz and what Dart knew he would have wanted. This was almost his primary driving force.

Shana smiled sweetly at the boy and then up at Dart. "Yes, to prevent a repetition of the sorrow of you and Seles." She moved closer to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Haschel laughed at himself. "I guess I'll be serious for the first time in a while!"

Albert thrust his hand into the air. "For the people who desire peace, I'll fight!"

Rose knew they expected some good guy cheer or whatever from her even before their gazes settled on her. But instead she snorted at them and rolled her eyes, opting out in the form of silence.

The boy frowned faintly at her behavior, but as a whole it bothered him very little. He was far too happy at finally being free. "Now I can go look for my father and mother!" He cheered.

Dart didn't notice at first, but upon doing a double take he swore that the boy's body was fading in color. "They aren't here?" Dart didn't understand how they could have been separated.

The boy laughed, grinning from ear to ear. "They had to go."

Rose raised a brow, glancing over in slow registering understanding. The final piece of this puzzle slid into place as the boy became nearly completely translucent. "I see…" she breathed, half regretting being so arrogant.

Despite Rose's low voice the boy heard, smiling directly at her as he spoke to her mind. "Yes, you're right."

"You couldn't go to?" Albert pressed.

The boy shook his head. "Not until now. I had a job to do." In the next instant he had vanished into thin air, his voice echoing one last phrase. "I had to show you the way…"

All but Rose started greatly as he disappeared from their sight. "What…was that?" Haschel managed to say, staring blankly.

"Was he ever there?" Shana whispered, spooked by this unnatural occurrence.

Rose grimaced, teeth gritted, as she was forced to see yet another life ruined by war. She hated the violence, the sorrow, and the death. The worst part was she never could escape it. It somehow always seemed to catch up to her.

"I guess he was dead." Dart shrugged, looking to Rose as if she would know any more than he did.

Rose glared miserably at them. "I'm going ahead." She growled, unable to take standing here another second, and then jumped down the hole into the underground paths.

Dart started, reaching after her uselessly. "Ro-Rose!"

As she touched down a wave of relief swept over her and she regained her ability to breathe easy.

Albert shook his head at her and also at Dart's pointless reaction. "She'll wait on us." Albert was sure of this. "She just couldn't take the morbid atmosphere." It was obvious to all the contempt that lurked in his voice and his eyes as he said this.

Still, Shana tried her best to ignore the fact. She nodded slowly as she attempted to defend her without being too obvious. "Her methods are just different." She shrugged.

Dart sighed to himself. "Let's go everyone."

**Yeah, I changed that a little bit. Someone I know has been reading it and thought it would be cool if the boy was a ghost all along. It kind of makes more sense when you think about it. It gives something more to the boy than just being one of those characters that randomly show up and disappears. I mean, he's still random, but at least he's a little cooler. I hope that doesn't bug anyone.**

**And yeah, I totally gave Rose issues with Albert. Things like this always bugged me during the game. I felt like she would be more resistant or something. So have fun with that. Sorry if it gets a little much at some points in the next couple of chapters. Again, I wrote it over a year ago. It's not what it would be if I was writing it now.**

**Anyway, please review!**


	18. The Blame Game

**I was a bit tentative to post this chapter just because I'm not sure about the amount of resentment I put between Rose and Albert. I don't know. If it's too much then say so. If you like it this way then say that too. Enjoy!**

They found Rose just as Albert predicted, waiting for them a little ways off from the rope used to slide down the hole. And she looked rather flustered compared to her usual demeanor. It was kind of painful for Dart to see. Because no matter what, she was his friend. And he'd accept her hate of Albert before even thinking to abandon her.

"Are you ok to go?" Dart pressed gently, getting around in front of her so as to fully see her reaction.

Rose looked away from him for a moment, arms crossed firmly over her chest. But she couldn't keep it up very long before she had to face him. "Why wouldn't I be?" She scoffed. "I know what has to be done."

Dart frowned, shrugging some. "I know." She wasn't like Shana. He'd been told this many times by Lavitz, but still he couldn't help but worry about her just the same. It wasn't healthy to hide your emotions like she did so naturally.

"Now come on." She barked, hands gripped tightly around the rope that hung down in front of them. "This tunnel is probably long."

They all followed her through the tunnels, going up stairs, back down ropes, and along bumpy terrain. They hit a dead end a time or two, which Albert didn't hesitate to point out, but as a whole she led them quite well. And as they neared the end they were all tired of sliding down and pulling themselves up ropes.

"Ok, I officially hate ropes." Haschel announced, caressing his reddened hands to try and reduce the burning feeling on his palms.

Shana would have agreed but long ago she'd done enough complaining so that Dart thoughtlessly offered to carry her on his back. So she was rather pleased by the distance travelled even though she saw plainly that no one else shared her sentiments.

"Well, I must admit…" Albert chuckled, "this is more of a workout than I've had in a while.

Rose, although tired, was not aching like everyone else for when the others had slid down and gotten rope burn she was smart enough to jump. "It's not that hard. Suck it up, both of you!"

"Hey!" Albert snapped automatically. "You didn't get mad at Shana when she was whining up a storm! So what makes it ok for you to yell at us?" His eyes were narrowed, but full of interest.

Rose snorted, preparing to jump down the extra-long drop. "I like her." Rose said curtly. "Unlike the both of you." And she jumped.

Shana, even though she felt bad for Albert and Haschel, couldn't help but smile. When it came to people like Rose it was an amazing feeling to be liked. Heck, she remembered when Rose was to her and Dart as she was to Albert and Haschel. She didn't include Lavitz because she knew better.

Dart sighed at Rose, following slowly after her down the rope. She was so difficult. He wished she could be a little friendlier for even the shortest time.

Haschel shook his head. "She's an awful person." He scowled down after them, wondering if he too should jump.

Albert sighed heavily. "Dart doesn't seem to think so."

Haschel rolled his eyes. "Of course he wouldn't. He's had to deal with her for forever and basically ignores her issues."

Albert tapped his chin thoughtfully. "But you know. As far as I've seen Rose hasn't snapped at him, just yelled toward him because of me." He looked to Haschel. "You think she likes him or something?"

Haschel snorted at the notion. "Like? As in just enough to treat him like a human being? Maybe. But I can't see her liking anyone **that** way. She's way too distant." Haschel then slid down the rope like he had countless times already. He didn't trust himself to jump.

Albert stared thoughtfully at the brown, bumpy wall. "Yeah…" He was quick to slide after Haschel, really not wanting to get yelled at again today.

"Finally." Hissed Rose beneath her breath so that they wouldn't hear. "Hope you like crawling, cause you're going to have to." She pointed ahead.

Shana whined softly. "I guess it can't be helped." Still she couldn't help but shudder at the thought of being covered in dirt.

"Don't worry." Dart tried to reassure Shana. "You'll look fine. And besides, after this you can take a bath or something."

Shana giggled at Dart's lame attempt at making this easier for her. "Ok."

They took their precious time fitting through the tiny crawlspace, each one grumbling about something different concerning it. Even Rose was griping to herself. She did not like being on the ground like this, it made her feel defenseless and completely open for an attack.

There was a collective sigh of relief as they all made it through. "Thank God that's over." Dart chuckled.

Rose shrugged. "You never know, there could be more. There is another rope after all." She jumped down the short drop, mildly surprised when the dirt walls and ground vanished from her vision. Now instead the walls and floor were made of beautiful silver coated concrete, the only flaws being the cracks in them from heavy use and the cobwebs that hung all around. There was an especially heavy grouping of the sticky white mess in the corner to her side.

Albert, still up with the others as Dart hoisted Shana back up on his shoulders, was practically seething. "She would have snapped at me." He hissed.

Dart perked, looking back to him with a faint frown. "I've been around her longer." He shrugged. "She takes my words and actions in stride. That's all."

Haschel nodded toward Albert, grinning from ear to ear. "And that's all it's gonna take for the king here to want to murder her." He laughed.

Shana sucked in a soft breath, looking near mortified by the thought. "You shouldn't say such a thing!" She jerked her head around to look sternly at the pair. "What if it came true!?" They all knew what she was referring to when she said this.

That shut them all up pretty good and gave them no other choice but to follow down after Rose. Not that they would have gone any other way. Haschel and Albert simply preferred hanging back from the others.

Rose sensed that something had been said that upset them all by the way they hung their heads and were performing whatever mannerism was unique to them and their nervousness. It was especially obvious as she looked back at Shana who had her head buried in Dart's shoulder and arms clutched tightly about his neck. And even the fact that Dart was still carrying her was a sign in and of itself.

A few minutes later they found that the path ended abruptly, a well of water visible over the edge. And dipping in and out of the water was a line of pales which the official use of could not be determined. Although they all guessed it helped power some aspect of the castle. And up the high reaching expanse the brick was a blue green that was most pleasing to the eye.

"We're getting close." Rose murmured to anyone who was willing to hear it.

"You think it's at the top of this ladder?" Dart pondered aloud, lowering down to his knees to set Shana down, because no matter how much he wanted to make things easier on her it was in no way possible to go up any length of a ladder with her clinging to him.

"Could be." Rose shrugged, inwardly cursing the length of the ladder. She trusted herself much more when it came to jumping blindly rather than climbing with the uncertainty of perhaps falling back down. So she said, "You go first."

Dart started to ask why when Shana hopped forward. "Ok!" She chirped, quickly taking to climbing.

Everyone was quite surprised too by how easily she flew up the ladder. Her sweet and completely feminine appearance did not allude to such a talent.

But as Dart thought about it he did recall her loving to climb up trees whenever they played games like hide and seek or tag. It made him smile warmly.

"Come on guys!" She called down to them, giggling as she paused high up above them.

Dart went next, then Haschel after he made sure Albert was ok being the last with Rose, and Rose, after giving Albert a scornful look, started to go.

But before she got a good footing she felt a hand gripping her wrist that pulled her roughly back down to face Albert. "Let go." She hissed, not bothering to hide her contempt. She was sure to burn a hole through him with her eyes as well.

Albert scowled darkly at her. "You can't keep doing this." He growled, not releasing her because he knew she would fly from him in the blink of an eye. "It's going to screw things up eventually."

Rose showed her bared teeth. "Good." She sneered. "Maybe then you'll be the one to suffer."

Albert growled angrily, jerking her forward so that her face was closer to his. "I know you don't like me! But this is ridiculous!" He yelled. "Do you think I wanted this!?" His hatred died only slightly as his mind flashed back to Lavitz's last moments. He'd hated that moment. "Heck! I'd rather it have been me!"

Rose felt a tiny pinch of guilt, but it was short lived. Her infuriation returned to match her pitiless look. "But it wasn't." She then flipped her head hard to smack him hard in the face with it.

Albert spluttered as he tasted her hair on his lips. "Rose!" He screamed, wiping his face.

Rose ignored him, thrusting her head into the air as she gripped the rungs of the ladder again. "I don't care how sorry you are." She snarled, snapping her head back to sneer at him. "I hope you pay for what you caused."

Albert started at her cruelty. How did Dart manage to have her treat him so well? What was the secret? "Well, what if this feud doesn't hurt me!? What if it gets someone else hurt!?" He was getting annoyed by the fact that she still wasn't turning around or stopping. So he tried one last trick. "What if it was Dart!?"

Rose sucked in a soft breath, eyes widening slightly as she froze a few rungs up the ladder. She didn't mean to make her feelings so obvious, but she honestly had been caught off guard by the idea. She never was one to think about others, so she didn't for a second think that Dart could suffer as a result.

Albert smirked despite himself. It wasn't that he wanted Dart to get hurt; it was simply that seeing Rose out of her element was something he couldn't help but enjoy. "Wouldn't that be awful?" He went right on taunting even though he'd already gotten his point across. "What would you do then?" He knew. She'd blame him even more.

She started to say what Albert was thinking, stopping as she thought to Dart again and the fact that her keeping this hostility up might hurt him. Instead she said with more concealed spite. "I wouldn't let it happen." She promptly scurried up the ladder to escape this scene. She didn't want to think of Dart in such a situation. And now when she looked to Albert that's all she thought of.

Albert snorted at her fear. At first she was this person who seemingly had nothing to worry about, no attachments that really mattered to her besides Lavitz. At least she was trying to pretend that was the case. But now Albert saw clearly that Dart was even more of an undesirable attachment than Lavitz had been. And no matter how mean it seemed he would not hesitate to use this to keep her from biting his head off.

They found that once they reached the end of the ladder they were no longer underground. They appeared to be on the outer edges of the inside of the castle.

The air was thick with a purple smoke, perhaps to cloud the vision of those not used to it and that green color that had covered the walls of the well on their way up was also the color of choice, although a bit faded, for the floor. And at the end of each set of stairs, there were three as far as Dart could see, was a square path with a square hole in the center that had a soldier trooping around in an almost zombie like fashion.

"Damn, what do we do now?" Haschel murmured, stretching to his full height instead of his usually slightly bent over form to try and see farther.

Rose, disgruntled but not completely thrown, lingered at the far corner of their square footing. "You think of something." She grumbled with her arms crossed firmly over her chest as she looked the opposite direction of the way they had to travel.

Dart instantly turned his head toward her, staring intently with a mixture of confusion and a sense of worry. He found it especially odd as he scrutinized her that she was almost holding herself with her arms rather than setting them in front of her chest to block people off like usual. "You up to transforming?" He offered, trying not to let on to the fact he knew something was wrong.

A slight smirk found its way onto her lips and she tilted her head toward him as he once again saw clear through her. "I think the better question is, do you think you can do it?" She vaguely recalled him failing to do so back in Hellena before she blacked out.

Dart had a laugh in his smile as he reacted, "I wouldn't talk if I were you." He knew he was pushing it picking at her flaws. Even if he had known her for the longest period of time, and she liked him more than anyone else, he still wasn't sure if she'd be amused.

Rose's brows rose noticeably at his jab, but still she couldn't deny she admired his bravery. "I think I'll be fine." She promised, moving over to grab his hand.

Dart sucked in a soft breath of surprise, eyes flashing from where her hand wrapped around his to her face. He wanted to scream out that this made no sense and that he needed clarification, but his mouth opened and closed around empty words.

Shana's eyes grew ten times their normal size as she watched Rose touch Dart. But in all honesty she wasn't sure if she was more shocked by the fact Rose would make such a move or simply because it was Dart she held the hand of and he was practically fawning over her. She could see it. And she hated it.

Rose glanced to Shana whose face was reddening and hands were clenched as she struggled to compose herself.

Rose chuckled, rolling her eyes at Shana's juvenile emotion of jealousy. If you could let that get the better of you, you were not meant to fight. And besides, guys weren't worth it. Unfortunately she could not keep up her amusement as she was forced to look over to Albert.

Albert was eyeing her suspiciously, not completely surprised but not fully understanding either. Although this did add fuel to his idea of Rose feeling something for Dart.

Rose's mouth twitched almost automatically at the sight of him and what she had to do. "Albert." She breathed his name like it was a curse. She then raised a slightly shaking hand toward him.

Albert scowled down at the offer, stiffening. "What?" He hissed right back.

Rose glowered fiercely at him. "I want to hold hands cause I'm so into you." She sneered. "Just take my hand genius!"

Albert growled slapping his hand hard onto her hand, gripping it as tightly as was possible.

Rose jerked him over so that the three made a tiny circle. "Link hands with Dart."

Dart looked over Rose's shoulder to see Shana. "What about…"

Rose shook her head, already knowing what he was about to say. "No, we don't need that many flyers. And besides…" she turned her dark eyes on Albert, smirking. "This is more fun."

Albert wasn't so smug now; he actually felt a tug of worry. Still he did as he was told and grabbed Dart's hand.

"Now," Rose breathed. "…think of what makes you angriest." She narrowed her eyes at Albert. "And I know it's not me." Then she let her eyes fall shut.

Albert hated to admit it, but she was right. As much as she pissed him off and made him want to hurt her she wasn't the biggest thing he hated. He hated that Lavitz was killed, and that this Lloyd, his advisor, was the perpetrator. But most of all he hated himself. As his eyes fell shut he thought mostly of himself and how it was all his fault and his Dragoon Spirit began to shine softly.

Rose too thought of Lavitz and all the scenarios that could've played out that might have made it end differently. What if she had stopped him? What if he hadn't been able to transform? Or what if they just hadn't bothered to go to Albert? It all made her grit her teeth and grip Albert's and Dart's hand tightly. Because she blamed herself as much as or more than Albert, more than anyone would ever know.

Dart also thought to Lavitz, but that was not all. He also thought about Rose and how he hated himself for dragging her along into this and causing her more pain than she already held in her heart. The pain was so intense for him that he was shaking faintly and growled lightly. But his self-hatred was so great that his spirit burst with light, surrounding him and quickly flowing through his limbs to jump from his hands to the other two.

Haschel and Shana just watched. There was not much else they could do. However Shana couldn't help but be thankful that Rose had spared her. That first transformation had hurt like hell even though she was focused solely on saving Lavitz. So she expected the second to hurt pretty close to the same. And maybe worse considering there was no real danger to distract her.

Each of the three cringed and grit their teeth noticeably as their powers coursed through each other. Their bodies weren't used to sharing the energy of a power which didn't recognize them. It was akin to getting a virus, only less deadly and way more painful.

Albert especially was having problems as he felt the darkness of Rose and the fire of Dart hit him. His knees felt weak, his bod betraying his weakness by shaking awfully, and he was even bent over as he nearly crumpled.

Rose snickered inaudibly. "What's the matter?" She teased cruelly. It wasn't that she wanted to see him be hurt and uncomfortable, this really would help him transform easier in the future, but his pain was definitely a plus.

A burst of light came from Rose now and as it died she, just like Dart, had transformed.

Albert was on his knees at this point, only able to keep connected to the other two because the pain made him keep a tight grip on their hands. But his Dragoon Spirit was slowly lighting up.

"Rose?" Dart said a bit disapprovingly with a look to match. His tone was not strangled like Rose's had been a moment before, he had been the first to transform.

"Yes?" She said coolly, smiling evilly.

"You can't keep hurting him."

Rose rolled her eyes, magnificent wings flapping once without her consent. "If he weren't so pathetic he wouldn't have to be hurt so much." She was speaking to Albert as a taunt more than Dart.

Dart shook his head. "It's his first time-" He tried to argue, Rose cutting him off.

"That's exactly why I'm doing this." She explained. "If I have to go into battle with him I want to be able to trust that he can have my back if things go downhill fast." Her tone was no longer teasing; she was being dead serious about this. "Because if he were Lavitz then he would be able to do this with or without transforming, but…"

Dart smiled in half pain, half content. Lavitz…he had been his best friend…his most trusted companion. "I know what you mean." He admitted, not caring if Albert heard or not. But he was pretty sure he couldn't by the way his head was swaying in a circle and his eyes were only half open. "But Lavitz trusted Albert. So you should try to honor him by doing the same, at least a little."

Rose snorted at Dart's attempt at tricking her into accepting the guilty king. No, she would not let this go so easily. He'd have to give her a reason to let it go. "I can't." She said flatly, looking back to Albert as his light grew in intensity.

Albert's body was close to making him blackout due to the immense pain coursing through his veins. It was the natural defense against the feeling. But Rose also saw that he was inches from transforming.

Rose then whispered a few select words, sending another spike of pain through Albert.

Even though it hurt like hell Albert's Dragoon Spirit burst with energy, engulfing them like the other two had been before him. As the light faded he wore the armor that they'd seen Lavitz wear but once. The only difference was that his weapon mirrored his javelin while Lavitz's had for some reason altered to a more trident like weapon.

Dart smiled as Albert finally managed to transform. He was also glad that he was now able to release Albert's hand. It was getting sort of strange holding hands with him. Although he did not realize that as he let go of Albert he had not yet let go of Rose's hand.

"Alright…" Rose sighed, "Enough of that." She pulled her hand away from both Albert and Dart, putting more of a jerk motion with the hand holding Albert while she simply slipped her other away from Dart. "Now get up." She scolded Albert. "It's not that bad." She remembered her first transformation. It made a shiver run down her spine, but she still wouldn't admit it was as awful as Albert was making it out to be.

Dart knelt down beside Albert to check him out. "I…I think he fainted…" Dart said in disbelief as he looked up to Rose for what to do now.

Rose sighed in aggravation. "I'm not carrying him." Dart started to suggest something, but she reprimanded the idea before it had a chance to pass his lips. "And no, you won't carry him either." She drew her blade. "We'll just have to wake him up."

Haschel started as he saw what she was planning to do. "Are you insane!?" He practically screamed. "You can't stab him awake!" He raced over to Albert's side and jerked him up and away from Rose, a glower of unmatchable proportions present.

Rose narrowed her eyes at him. "It's not like he'll die." She scoffed. "Shana can just heal wherever I decide to jab." She smirked unintentionally. It would be fun to hear him yelp.

Haschel shook his head fervently. "No!" He showed his bared teeth. "I won't let you!"

Shana saw how mad Rose was becoming, even if she wasn't fully showing it, and hurried to take a step forward. "Rose." She said in her soft voice, hands clasped at her chest. "Let's just splash his face with water or something."

Rose frowned, looking thoughtfully upward. She didn't say a word in response, just used her strength she gained as a Dragoon to get Albert away from Haschel before swooping back down the hole which the ladder came out of.

"Hey!" Haschel screamed after them, fists shaking in anger as he clenched them tight.

"Relax." Shana moved over to Haschel, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Rose can be mean, but she means well. She won't hurt him."

Haschel didn't know what to believe right now. He didn't trust that glimmer in Rose's eyes no matter how much sweet Shana insisted she wouldn't do anything wrong. He just didn't know…

Down at the foot of the ladder Rose had Albert laying with his head swaying slightly, half on the stone floor while the other half dangled over the water in the well. He still wasn't moving, but his breathing was steady so she knew he was fine.

Rose leaned over the edge, cupping her hands to scoop up some water and splash his face with it.

It took a couple of times, but Albert eventually was shocked awake. He shot up into a sitting position, breathing elevated and eyes wide as he tried to remember where he was and what was going on. His wings also spread involuntarily, smacking Rose in the face.

Rose was crouched down, not fully on her knees, as she was hit and so she stumbled back and hit the back wall with a thud followed shortly by a grunt.

Albert, in his moments of clouded mind, when he could not match his hatred to Rose's face, instantly spun around in alarm. "Sorry!"

Rose glared up at him. She pushed herself back up on her feet and brushed herself off. "Whatever." She grumbled. "At least you're awake."

Albert stared down at himself as she said this, remembering now that they had been in the middle of transforming when everything started to fade from him. He couldn't help but smile at the thick armor that covered his normal wear. "Amazing…"

"We are in the middle of something." She reminded. "And you slowing us down isn't helping."

Albert was able to ignore her comment due to the shear overwhelming awe of what he had become. It was so very different than what he'd seen as Lavitz transformed, it was much more enthralling. "So how do I fly?" He was animated, eyes wide in intrigue, as he asked her.

"Hmm…" Rose looked at him for the first time without hate. She saw only a Dragoon seeking to understand the dynamics of his existence. It was something Lavitz had never done, something she barely noticed until this moment. "You just want to."

Albert looked at her as if she were stupid. "What?"

Rose shook her head at his denseness. "If you want to bad enough, you will find that soon you'll be able to do it without thinking. This is how a lot of aspects about a Dragoon work. Mind over matter. Except magic, magic is furthered by skill."

Albert's world had finally stopped spinning and he was brought back to the reality. He had control of all aspects of himself, and he remembered who he was talking to. A scowl came to his face and he said coarsely. "Thanks. We should go." He wanted with everything he had for his wings to start moving and suddenly they did. He felt the air flowing and he was up in the air.

Rose watched with slight amusement as Albert struggled to keep a straight path and wobbled like a toddler when learning to walk before she took off effortlessly. She passed him up in the blink of an eye and landed back on solid ground before the other three. "He's fine."

Shana and Haschel gave a simultaneous sigh of relief. They had been on edge since the moment Rose had disappeared with Albert. Even when Shana had tried to bring Haschel solace she had been a hypocrite because she was worried too.

"So who's carrying who?" Dart was more concerned with getting this done.

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "No one, this is practice." She smirked as the words passed her lips. "But for Albert it was just to help him along with transforming.

Dart's brows furrowed at this, uncertainty in his blue eyes. "Practice?"

Rose nodded. "I want to see if you can replicate the flame shot you did when you first transformed. You'll need to be able to if you want to come close to mastering the Dragoon side." As she said this an image of his body sprawled out on the floor flashed before her eyes, making her jump the slightest bit. _This will be his fate if he doesn't._ Her mind echoed to her.

Dart pretended not to see the slight shiver that ran up her spine, instead saying, "You really think I can do it?" He still did not believe in himself like Rose seemed to believe in him since he had failed to transform on his own since the Virage. "I mean…I believe in this power…I just…"

"You don't believe in yourself." She finished for him.

Dart hung his head some in shame. Yes…

Dart and Rose looked back as the flapping of wings caught their attention. Albert was finally up out of the well and landing.

"How do you control these things? It's impossible!"

Rose shook her head, turning. "No, it's not. You just have to be-" Rose halted what would have been her demeaning words as Dart stepped forward, now beside her.

"Practice." Dart said quickly. "Which you can do now. Carry Shana."

Both Rose and Shana looked stupefied at him. "What!?" The word slipped past their lips simultaneously. Neither could believe this. Shana couldn't believe he was really trying to get rid of her for this, and Rose couldn't believe that he was lying to Albert.

"What are you doing?" Rose hissed in Dart's ear as she leaned over toward him slightly.

"If I mess up, I don't want Shana here. She could get hurt."

Rose should have known. It had nothing to do with Albert. It was all about Shana. It was always about Shana. They were practically in love for crying out loud. At least they would be if Dart wasn't allergic to romantic relationships. "Ok." She murmured, not having anything sarcastic to say for once in her life.

Albert moved without thinking over to Shana. "I guess we should go." He shrugged, tentative to make a move since, even with his small interaction with her; he knew that she belonged solely to Dart.

Shana did not take in his words immediately, she was zoning in on Dart and Rose. She wasn't sure what to think of them being basically alone, only Haschel there to monitor. It wasn't that she didn't trust Rose or Dart, she was simply afraid of their budding friendship. Rose liked him most after all, and she was just what Dart surely considered the perfect companion.

"Shana?" Albert tried again, confused by the lost look she possessed.

Shana started, whipping her head around so that she was now looking at Albert. "Yes?" She squeaked hoarsely.

"I'm supposed to fly you over the guards."

Shana nodded slowly. "Yeah…ok." She walked the short distance over to him, letting him hold her close so that he was able to ensure she would not go anywhere that he didn't.

"We'll be there in a minute." Dart promised her, crossing his heart with a finger.

Shana smiled wanly at his childish promise, nevertheless doing the same in return as she was carried up into the air by Albert.

Albert made sure to go high in the air despite the fact he didn't have much confidence in himself and didn't particularly care for heights. He swayed unlike how he'd seen Rose as she passed him up in the well, and this only made him try harder and tell himself repeatedly that he could do this. He had to be as good as her.

Now that they were virtually alone by Dart's request Rose began to order Dart around. "Alright, you should fly a bit." She flew slowly up to about the height he needed to be at. "It gives you more control over the situation and a better angle." She explained.

Dart nodded, mirroring her movement to linger in the air almost perfectly. He was much better at flying than Albert was even though he hadn't done much flying himself. "What now?"

"Concentrate." She breathed almost eerily.

Dart did as she said, positioning himself with his hands open wide in front of his chest for some reason akin to instinct. He felt it was the right way to place himself. "Like this?" He murmured, not able to say so loudly because he was trying to focus.

Rose was mildly surprised. "Yes." But nothing was really happening despite his proper form and concentration. "But you can't just concentrate." She made sure he knew. "You have to focus on the fire within you, bring it to the surface."

_Focus on the darkness within you…_

Rose drew in a sharp breath at the voice echoing in her mind. Her words practically mirrored Zieg's from back then. _But there's no darkness in me. _That's what she'd told him. _There's evil in everyone. No one is perfect._ He'd laughed at her as he said this to her, a naïve person then.

"Rose!" Dart snapped urgently, trying to get her back down to reality to see what was going on.

Rose jerked her head around, eyes falling on Dart once more. She didn't have to ask what he wanted either; she saw it plain as day. A thin layer of oval shaped fire had formed before him and he obviously had no clue what to do with it.

"This is getting weird." Dart's voice wavered, his eyes growing larger by the second as the thin layer of fire folded in on itself and began to round like clay into a ball of thick, burning flames.

"Don't be so tense!" Rose commanded, staring intensely at Dart all the while. "Focus, but relax a little! Let it come naturally." Zieg's voice echoed similar words to her. This was unsettling.

Dart shook his head, the misshapen ball of flames suspended before his two hands. "I-It's not just that." He admitted. "I don't think I can hurt them." It would have been different if he actually felt threatened by them or there was no other way around them, but that wasn't the case.

Rose scoffed at his words. She would expect as much from Shana and perhaps Albert, but not Dart. Sure he was kind and all that, but when it came to fighting he did what he had to. "Do it." She cried sharply.

Dart shoved the ball of fire as hard as he could, the backlash slamming him the opposite direction and into the wall with great force A grunt was even forced from his throat due to the impact.

Rose sighed heavily as the ball went off target and only hit two of the three targets.

The screams of the two that Dart managed to hit brought the third around quickly to stare in disbelief at the creatures before him

Dart groaned, holding his head as he picked himself back up. "That…hurt."

Rose swiftly went to correct Dart's mistake. She flung her blade over at the soldier who's eyes were larger than bowling balls to make a direct hit at the heart.

The breath was knocked out of the soldier and blood seeped from his chest and the corners of his mouth as he stood paralyzed, a shining light forming around the entry wound.

Rose flicked her hand, the light shooting up in the air and then back toward her and Dart to bathe them in it.

Dart stared in awe as he was covered by the shining light that felt quite similar to the feeling he'd had as Shana touched him after she changed into a Dragoon. "What is this…?"

Rose flicked her other hand, her stiletto soaring back to her so she could catch it effortlessly and at the same time end her spell.

As the captivating light encompassing the two of them faded the soldier finally fell to his knees and then down flat on the ground, hand twitching some before he was lifeless.

"Wow…" Dart murmured, flying back up into the air to stand beside Rose. "What was that?"

Rose smirked faintly. "It was my first magic spell. I've been using it so long that I've pretty much perfected it."

Dart frowned deeply, brows furrowed to match his thoughtful expression as he remembered something then. "You used that back with the Virage right?"

Rose was amazed. "Yes, it's Astral Drain. It is similar to Shana's attack in the way it sucks a person's life force. However it does so in a much smaller portion so it isn't much good for healing multiple people. Mostly I use it for myself…or used to."

Dart nodded. "I still feel the healing power though." He encouraged. "So it's not completely useless." He half joked.

Rose half smiled. "But to waste my strength on multiple people would be a vain effort."

Dart shrugged. "I don't think so." He looked up toward the ceiling as he thought of a way to explain this to her. "If you cared enough about a person then anything would be worth it to save them." He looked back at her with hopeful eyes.

Rose snorted at the notion. "I don't care about anyone."

Dart flinched slightly at the harsh reality she was showing him. Although he had to wonder if she really meant it or if it was a newly developed mechanism to protect herself after what happened to Lavitz. "If that was true you wouldn't stick with us through thick and thin." He observed, pretending not to look as he monitored her from the corner of his eye.

Rose sent a dirty glare his way as a replacement reaction for her actual feelings of discomfort and embarrassment. "You would be lost without me." She said superciliously, flying ahead of him with her head stuck high in the air.

"You don't have to be so strong." He flew over so that he was even with her again. "I know it's the way you are, but we're your friends. You can try and be a little different with us…or…at least with me."

Rose averted her eyes, eyes softening considerably. "It's not that simple." She murmured. "You might would hurt me, no matter how much you never intended to." She sighed heavily. "It's what happened with my old friends."

Dart dropped the topic then, getting the hint. "Alright." He shrugged. "We should get going then." He turned back to where Haschel still stood. "Haschel!" He yelled, floating gently down to the ground.

Haschel's eyes were still wide as he walked to Dart. "That…that was different."

"Tell me about it." He chuckled, grabbing onto Haschel's shoulders. "But you get used to it." He took back off into the air. "Ready?" He said more to Rose.

Rose flipped her hair back out of her pale skinned face. "Always." She flew to where Albert and Shana stood farther off, expecting Dart to follow.

As the two landed Rose barely tapped Dart's Dragoon Spirit with a finger, the bright red light shining around him before he was himself again. She then proceeded to turn back herself, not even needing to touch her spirit. She'd done it so much it took little to no effort on her part.

"Is that all you have to do?" Dart queried as he released Haschel and stared at her expectantly.

"It's all I have to do." She made sure he understood that it was different for someone inexperienced like him. "That's why I did it for you. You would have had to focus a lot more and we don't have the time."

Shana walked away from Albert to give Dart a brief hug and then move around to his side and wrap her arms around his arm. "How'd it go?" She muttered sweetly, smiling softly.

Dart shrugged. "Ok, I guess. It's not simple, that's for sure."

Rose rolled her eyes at him before turning her cold eyes to Albert who was back to his human form. "So you turned back already did you?" She bashed without her usual harsh tone.

Albert scowled back at her. "Yes. But at least I managed to do it."

Rose wanted to say it wasn't the same as with Dart, that changing back because you couldn't keep yourself a Dragoon was another story completely. But she held her tongue. Instead she said, "It means nothing if you can't fly or use your strength to your advantage."

Albert snorted. "I'll get it."

"You better." Rose said beneath her breath as she passed through a narrow doorway out onto a tiny platform a few feet off the ground. They were now where the bridge would have led them.

Everything was green from the floor to the illuminating lights set along the straight forward path. The only exception was the occasional design meant to stand out which was either brown or black. And there weren't even any soldiers. Rose couldn't believe this. This was pathetic. "Come on!" She ordered, hopping down instead of using the ladder.

Each of them came out one by one, filing down the ladder after her. Only Dart thought it would be fun to mimic her and jump off the platform instead of go down the ladder.

"Dart!" Shana scolded, scowling, as she watched him land perfectly. "You could get hurt!"

Dart laughed at her. "Don't be silly." He tapped her on the shoulder gently. "It was only a few feet. I know what I'm doing."

"It sure is a foreboding thing isn't it?" Haschel spoke up, staring up at what seemed to be a never ending castle.

"It's even bigger than Indels Castle." Albert commented, saying this both from this observation and also because he remembered it from when he was a kid. "It's meant to intimidate."

"Well it won't work on us." Rose tried to speak as all of them despite the fact it was obvious at least Haschel had been frightened a little bit. "We are Dragoons." Once again she left Haschel out. "We are superior. No human can be our equal!"

Dart raised both brows, impressed as well as a bit dubious. Even a small smirk formed on his lips. "She's right!" He finally decided, swirling about to face them all. "We can't be scared by this! We can do this!" He now grinned wickedly.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him with a sense of pride. She had turned him into this. He was, in a sense, her creation. And she loved what he'd become.

"So we will go!" He jerked to the side some to allow them a full view of the castle again as well as to point out toward the dark building. "Onward!"

**So what did you think? Hopefully you still enjoy reading this. It's getting closer and closer to the end. Once it is over I might post the second disc novelization. I don't know though. Some childish part of me still hopes to one day be able to publish this series. So I might hold back on posting any after this book is complete. What do you think? Please review!**


	19. Keys to the Chamber

**Important question time! So you better read this! I'm really struggling with what to do with Miranda in the third book. In the game it was the obvious step for her to replace Shana, but in a book her taking Shana's place really doesn't make much sense. Sure she's the White Silver Dragoon, but other than that she serves absolutely no purpose. She is so incredibly close to flat in my opinion and is more annoying than Shana, just in a different sense. I'm extremely tempted to just cut her out of the third and fourth book as a main character altogether. What do you think?**

As they walked in through the front gates of the castle the green theme continued, although this was more so because of the bright glows given off by the flickering flames and thin green tinted smoke billowing all around them. In truth the walls and floor were grayed and cracked from decades of use, the rug stretching up the center of the room was of white, blue, and red put together in a pleasing design.

The setup of the room was a different matter. Right above their heads was grated footing made for people to walk in single file that bordered the walls starting halfway to the end of the room and wrapping around to the opposite side. There was what looked like an elevator to their left and a normal doorway at their right. But the main focus was the larger elevator encompassed by twisted cement as it went up. It seemed especially important as there were two guards set on either side of it.

"Let's end this quick." Rose hissed, launching forward with blinding speed toward them.

The two men snapped to attention, not thinking twice about charging head on at her.

Rose performed a magnificent flip over the men's heads, catching the off guard long enough for her to cut them across the back and then, as they stumbled, stab each individually through the stomach.

In seconds flat both laid sprawled out on the floor, bleeding out and staining the fine decorative rug at the foot of a few large stairs leading to the awesome elevator.

"Um…nice work." Dart chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in an almost nervous manner. The only thing that separated it from nervous tendencies was that he was quite used to such behavior.

"Yeah, I don't think we'll have a problem with the guards here." Haschel joked.

Shana wandered over to the left toward the elevator. She was much more interested in how it worked than how wonderful Rose was. She reached out to touch the purple container set out beside the device, the enchanting faint glow from an unknown residual substance enticing her.

Dart perked, turning away from Rose to look in faint confusion at her. "What are you doing?"

Shana slowly looked over her shoulder at him, an almost dulled appearance possessing her features. "This seems important." She said simply.

Dart walked over to stand beside her and get a better look at what she spoke of. Although even as he studied it carefully he couldn't say he got the same vibe. "Maybe." He shrugged, unable to disagree with her.

"I don't remember this feature when I was here as a kid." Albert commented, over at the larger elevator to get a look of his own. "It must be an innovation due to new research." He touched the insides of the container, a powder sticking to his fingers.

Rose thought to add a snide comment; only stopping as she caught the look Dart sent her from across the room. "We'll have to see what we can find through that door then." She didn't wait for them to agree to this, just turned about and headed for the door.

They didn't hurry after her, instead exchanging indifferent looks as well as shrugged before slowly following after Rose.

The room through the door had three narrow paths of green color, one heading straight across through another door while the other two branched off diagonally from the center spot. The center was defined by its circular shape that divided the two strips that led from one door to the next. Also at this center circle was a strange device that held a purple flame that went up vertically from a thin slowly spinning mechanical machine integrated into the floor up to a large bulging cement object.

As Dart looked he also noticed that down the diagonal paths stood a man in a white coat before a glowing light, one green and one white. But as a whole Dart was much more interested in the purple flame at the center. He had a feeling it was connected with the elevators.

As he stared they all circled around the brilliant flame to try and determine its use.

Dart's brows were furrowed deeply as he studied it most of all. "What is this…?" He looked to Albert instead of Rose, him actually having a better chance of knowing the answer for once.

Albert returned Dart's perplexed gaze, thinking a moment on it before shrugging.

The man at the circular platform with the green light perked at the sound of Dart's voice. "You are...?" He murmured, walking almost mechanically from his spot over to them. "Are you here to see my research?" His face lit up ever so slightly, most emotion having been sealed off thanks to his line of work. Emotions weren't necessary.

The man at the white flame spun around and moved at a slightly faster pace to dart's group. "Or…to visit me?" His face brightened to the same degree as the firsts.

A flicker of a smile passed the green flame researcher's lips. "Either way, we are pleased." He admitted, selfishness no longer apart of his mindset. "We like it when mercenaries like you have an interest in our research."

The white flame researcher nodded ever so slightly. "Indeed." He looked the five of them over quickly before continuing. "Recently, barbaric suicidal attacks have become common, **but**…" he held up a finger to keep them silent. "…if our research is successful it will reduce the casualties of war. For example, that white flame has a healing power." The white light at the tip of a pole shone brighter and he beamed, it being his station.

The green flame researcher beamed as well as he explained his research subject. "And that green flame isn't extinguished by water."

Dart's mouth was open some as he stared from one to the other in awe. The only problem was he found such a feat hard to believe.

The green flame researcher saw his doubt etched in every crease of his face and further explained. "When we put it to practical use, it will provide an advantage in war."

Albert didn't even care that they said it would be used in the war. Right now his love of technology was kicking in and he couldn't help but say, "But…I've never seen such technologies. It's like…like magic." He half laughed at the assumption, only believing such folly because he'd seen similar things with the Dragoons.

The white flame researcher scowled darkly. "You don't need to know about that." He peeked back at both of their flames before returning his heated gaze back to the group, mainly Albert. "There are already enough of us involved in this accursed research."

The green flame researcher shared his expression as well as his feelings. "Yes, your job is to fight." He insisted, eyes narrowed. "There are too many things we don't know about this power. If you get involved, you might end up like Mr. Magi."

The white flame researcher hung his head. "It's too late for that guy." He then sighed sadly at the grander scheme of things. "We have to complete this research before it is too late for Sandora."

Albert frowned deeply to match their sadness. "I see, I will end the war." He nodded bitterly, folding his arms over his chest. "But…can we ask you a little more?"

Both men nodded and gave a small shrug of indifference.

"For example…" he motioned to the flame the circled around. "...what kind of function does this purple flame serve?" He had to know if it was connected with the elevators.

The white flame researcher smiled faintly, amused by his curiosity. "This flame is the power source of the castle." He motioned toward the continuously pumping flame. "The purple flame drives the elevators and lifts. It helps people's lives. At least…" he lowered his eyes to the floor in sadness. "That's the proper way of usage."

Dart went ahead and finished his thought. "But the war decides the usage now."

"Yes." The green flame researcher nodded. "Even if this technology could be used for the happiness of the people, once it is used wrongly, it may bring unhappiness." He cringed, locking his hands together at his waist to try and make himself feel better about the truth. "What we are making may bring unhappiness to the people in Basil."

Albert tensed noticeably as his home was mentioned. He would not allow such a thing to happen, he absolutely refused to let it become their reality.

The white flame researcher nodded gravely. "I agree, this research is after all based on the calamity caused by the dragon." A pause. "War creates catastrophe."

The green flame researcher sighed in a mixture of sadness and hate. "It's a sad thing for both the people and the dragon."

Dart started, jumping forward an inch as he held up his clenched fist. "The dragon!? The dragon is involved in this research?" His eyes were wide in disbelief, mouth turned into a sharp snarl. That beast was an evil thing even in death; it needn't be brought back to the surface by this cursed research.

The white flame researcher chuckled nervously, stepping back from them a bit. "Oh, I slipped my tongue." He smiled falsely, waving his words off with his hands. "Forget what I said."

The green flame researcher sent the other a small scowl before perking back to his neutral appearance. "Now, back to the research!" He half said it for the both of them as a whole, half just as a way to get the bigmouthed one away so he didn't slip up again.

The whole group shook their heads at the two. They were odd.

As the green flame researcher turned to go something hit him. "Oh, let me give you some magic oil!" He chirped, going to Dart. "This is the fuel for the purple flame. It gives you mobility."

Dart nodded in appreciation.

The white flame researcher wished to be helpful as well and offered. "If you want to be healed, come visit me anytime."

Shana smiled sweetly. "Thank you very much." Her clasped hands at her waist swayed as she bounced gently from one heel to the other. "It was very…useful."

Each nodded, smiling broadly, more so than they had at any point before. They then turned about and headed for their station to research some more. It was their job after all.

Dart didn't quite know where to put the powder as he walked carefully over to the other side, staring intently at the bag which it was in. "Hey, Rose?"

Rose looked up from the floor with only slight interest. "What?"

"You think you could carry this stuff?" He wondered, gaze boring into her with hopefulness.

Rose let her eyes wander to Shana for a split second, taking in her slightly perturbed appearance, before looking back to Dart. "Sure. But I get to lead." She wanted to make sure he understood this.

Dart handed her the bag.

Albert and Haschel both rolled their eyes at her, snorting barely audibly.

Only Rose chose to round on Albert alone. "Got a problem with that!?" She snarled in a low tone, getting up in his face, hands raised as if she might grab onto the collar of his shirt in defense.

Haschel shrank back even though she was not directly speaking to him. He just didn't like being so close when she could easily turn on him as well.

Albert, on the other hand, stood up straight, expression stern and mouth a flat line. "I just don't think whoever has ahold of the bag should denote who gets to lead." He glanced over at Dart who was grimacing, but didn't stand down. "Dart is the leader. He should always be the leader."

Rose's mouth twitched noticeably as he more stealthily tried to order her around. And then it turned up into a smirk. "You may be the king in Bale, but here you're just another face. You don't get the privilege of telling me what to do." She turned swiftly about, hitting him with her hair. "So don't try."

Albert growled angrily at her, brushing his face off before stepping back closer to Haschel. "Ridiculous."

Rose jumped effortlessly over those ahead of her to land perfectly in front of the elevator. "Let's see what's down here." She spilled a little bit of the powder into the purple container, it igniting instantly as a reaction to the mixture.

"Oh…" Shana was enthralled by the way the purple flame danced in its container. "It's so pretty."

"Come on." She stepped into the small machine, beckoning for the others to follow.

They all crowded in, grunting as they felt like they were being compacted in the space they were given. It didn't help that it seemed as if the ride would never end. So once the elevator came to a stop on the next level they all zoomed out, breathing heavily in relief.

"Now I feel bad for trash." Haschel joked, bent over with his hands on his knees.

Shana was in a similar position, but not because she was exhausted from pushing to have enough room. Her cheeks were flushed, a light red color on the surface. She had been pressed up against Dart, so she was rather embarrassed.

Dart on the other hand, had barely noticed. He had been focused on the fact he had pretty much had Rose pressed up against the wall as if he had intended to kiss her. He was completely flustered no matter how hard he tried not to be.

Rose didn't look like she cared a bit about having Dart pressed up against her, but on the inside her heart was beating a million miles an hour and she'd almost say she was lightheaded. And as such she was glad to be free from that prison, a sigh escaping her lips. "That sucked."

As they finally looked up they noticed the room they were in. There was a large hole in the center surrounded by a flimsy rail where a giant burst of purple flame was burning from. Just above the high reaches of the flickering flame was a tangle of wires that looked more like a chunk or earth with roots than what it really was. Many men like the ones the floor above them were gathered around the flame, staring intently at it like some big secret lied within its depths.

Rose shook her head at them, hurrying across the room to the elevator on the other side of the round purple room. She had no interest in people such as them. She'd barely wanted anything to do with the other two, so she definitely wasn't going to start talking to them. She threw another bit of powder into the container by the elevator, going in and anticipating going down with or without the others.

The others scrambled to get into the elevator before it left with only Rose, only making it because she didn't weigh enough to trigger it. And of course this just made room for more teasing.

As they stepped out of the confining space Albert took his chance. "So, you don't weigh very much then, do you?" Albert sneered, monitoring her reaction from the corner of his eye.

Haschel pressed his hands over his mouth as he started to snicker loudly.

Rose shot both of them a dirty glare, the most hate going toward Albert. "Shut up." She hissed.

Albert snickered along with Haschel at making her mad. "Why should I? I'm just an average guy right?" He repeated her words, moving closer to her as a devious smirk passed his lips.

Rose backed up from him, knowing that if she stayed close to him while her anger was rising at a blinding pace she'd do something she'd regret.

"And average guys act like this, right?" He taunted further, getting closer still.

Rose was up against the wall now, breathing hitching as she became the equivalent of a caged animal. Her instincts were kicking in like they always did when she felt threatened with no way of escape and it was all she could do to keep her twitching hand from shooting to her stiletto.

Dart's eyes widened as he saw her struggling to keep from hurting him. "Albert!" He snapped harshly. "Stop!"

"Why? Why do you always side with her?" He turned slightly so that his burning eyes now shot through Dart instead of Rose. "I know you've been around her more. But that's not a good reason! If it were Lavitz-"

That's all it took and Rose could not stop herself. A furious flame ignited in her dark eyes and she thoughtlessly reared back and slapped Albert across the face with every ounce of her strength.

There was a sharp intake of breath as everyone else heard and saw her action; the slap sound even making most of them cringe.

Albert brought a quivering hand up to the reddening imprint on his cheek, lost for words.

Rose instantly jerked him up by the collar of his shirt; grip so tight she could feel her own nails through his clothes. "I don't care what you say to me!" She snarled. "But you **never** use Lavitz as an excuse!" She shook him once roughly. "Got it!?"

"Rose…" Dart started to say as he reached halfheartedly out toward her. But he ended up trailing off as an image of Lavitz flashed before his eyes and he realized he didn't care what Rose did at this point.

Albert had his teeth grit as he tried not to look into her angry eyes that were only inches from him after she jerked him forward. Still, he could not deny that she was actually right for once. Bringing Lavitz into this was horribly wrong and inconsiderate to all who knew him. If hating Rose meant that he would inevitably dishonor his friend then he would have to stop.

Rose's glare intensified as the silence lengthened. "Well!?" She shook him again. She hoped for his sake he agreed because if not she wasn't sure she could keep herself from hurting him further.

Albert sighed softly, hanging his head as well as averted his eyes. "I didn't mean to…" he breathed. "Lavitz was my friend too. I just…you…"

Rose snorted; looking away as well as he tried to pin this on her. What was worse was that he was right. If she wasn't so against everything he did he wouldn't have pushed back like this and Lavitz would probably never have been brought into the equation.

Dart was amazed by the fact that Albert's guilty trip had made her feel a twinge of guilt herself. It shown clear in what he could see of her eyes and the simple fact that she was trying so hard now not to look at him when before she had stared unforgivingly into his eyes.

Albert, not being used to her slight changes in demeanor, did not notice and thought he would have to go on. "Like I said before…just give me a chance."

Rose looked over his head at Dart for guidance on one of the only moments in her life where she honestly didn't know what to do. As she waited she loosened her grip on him.

Dart saw she was looking at him and knew automatically what she was asking. 'What do I do?' That's what her look told him. Dart mouthed to her, "Give him one chance."

Rose sighed heavily, dropping him back on the ground before jerking her head as far from him as possible to whisper, "One chance." She then walked off indignantly to stand with her back to him next to Dart. "And you better not blow it." She couldn't bear another death.

Albert sighed in relief. Finally, he would finally get an opportunity to prove he did not intend to take Lavitz's place but would contribute just as much as he had. He could hardly believe it.

"What is this place anyway?" Haschel spoke up to break the tension.

Now they were in a basement like room where there was but one light filtering through the window on the far side. If not for that they would have been virtually blind. But it wasn't even natural light. It was still night outside, so they knew it had to be a flickering flame. And the whole center section of the floor was set down a notch, grungy grime coating it.

"It's a garbage dispenser." Rose blurted out after seeing this last detail. "Garbage falls on it, a switch gets flipped, and then it falls further down where it slowly decomposes."

"Then there can't be anything past it besides maybe a guy at a lever." Dart tried to reason.

Shana concentrated hard on the other side where the outline of a person could be seen moving to and fro. But what really held her attention was the strange soft glow. She figured it was the handle of the switch, and yet she still found herself walking down onto the garbage shaft.

Rose saw Shana going off and wondered if Dart would see as well. "Then you better get your sister." It was all Rose could think to call her in that moment.

Dart jerked his head around. "Shana!" What was she doing? They'd just established that they didn't need to go and not only that but if garbage were to fall at this point it could be potentially dangerous. "Get back here!" For a moment he was her guardian again, forgetting that he no longer had the power to tell her what to do.

Shana looked lazily back at them from over her shoulder, slowly shaking her head before facing forward again.

"Shana!" Dart half begged, sighing irritably before he launched into a run after her.

Something clicked then, catching only Rose's attention with her sharp senses. The garbage was being let down, the first in the line of steps.

Dart grabbed onto Shana's wrist just at the edge of the other side of the garbage shaft. "Shana." He tried to say more calmly. "What are you doing?"

Shana shrugged. "I feel like there's something important over here."

Dart made a face. Why would she think that?

Piles of garbage started to slush down then, splattering and clumping however it pleased. "Ah!" Shana squeaked, jumping off the shaft back onto the more solid ground of the other side.

Dart hurried after her, a bit of the slosh smacking him in the shoulder. "Great." He grumbled, wiping at the spot as he stuck his tongue out and moved on past Shana. "And now we're stuck over here until the switch it flipped."

Shana shook her head at him, gaze wandering over to the figure she'd seen from the other side, it was a man. "Oh…" she walked up a couple of steps to stand next to him.

The man didn't see her for a minute, too consumed by his business. Yet somehow he was still unsurprised when he turned around and saw her. "Oh, hello." He murmured coolly, a faint smile present on his lips. "It's you."

Shana made a face. "Me? What do you mean?" She cocked her head to the side. "Do I know you?"

The man chuckled at her. "No, you don't know me. But I know you."

Shana was taken aback by such a notion. "W-What?" She stuttered, trying to swallow her fear as best she could. To be weak now in the face of something as innocent as a human would do no good.

The man's smile widened and his eyes softened. "Don't be afraid. I'm no danger to you nor am I a stalker." He half laughed at his joke. "I'm just here to help you on your way."

Shana's fear lessoned, bur her confusion grew. "Help me…on my way? How are you going to do that? You're just a garbage man."

He laughed again at her naïve nature. "No, that's what I used to be." His tone was bitter as he admitted this. "Now I am so much more. I have to help you."

Shana still wasn't sure about this man, but she had a slowly rising feeling of understanding. Could it be…was this guy just like the boy before? "Um…then, does that mean…?" She couldn't bring herself to finish her question, but she didn't have to.

The man flashed her a bucktoothed smile. "Yes, I am just like that boy. In fact, he had me linger here so that you all would not get lost."

Shana sucked in a sharp breath. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She muttered sadly.

The man shook his head. "Don't be. This has been the pleasure of a lifetime to wait here just to help you, especially someone as pretty as you."

Shana blushed lightly. "So, will you move on then? After this I mean."

He nodded. "At least, I hope so." He dug around in his pocket for the item that was oh so important. "So, here." He reached his arm out and opened his hand to her.

Shana was astonished to see a red ball resting in his rather translucent hand. She had to wonder how he was capable of touching something real when he was dead. "Thank you." She bowed in appreciation as she took the ball.

The man was getting less visible by the second. "And don't trouble yourself with the details." He answered the thought in her mind, smiling slyly. "You'll just drive yourself mad."

Shana's eyes widened as she realized he had read her mind. "But how did you know I-"

He laughed faintly at the shock written across her face. "Like I said. Don't bother yourself with the details. All that matters is that you have what you need and my job is finally complete."

"Ok." She smiled, accepting this for what it was. Heck, she'd already seen the boy disappear. So why couldn't this man hold tangible objects too? "I'll keep it safe." She assured him, tucking it in one of her pockets.

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Good. And you be safe too." And then he vanished from sight.

"Shana!" Dart called to her, turning her around to face him. "What are you doing? Who were you talking to?" He looked truly perplexed.

Shana stared blankly at Dart. "What do you mean?" She glanced back over her shoulder. "Didn't you see him?" Was it possible too that he had only revealed himself to her?

_Yes._ A voice echoed in her mind. _He doesn't know a thing._

Shana smiled in amusement. How clever.

"Um…no. Who was there?" He pondered, trying to see over her shoulder.

Shana waved her words away. "Oh, never mind. It was nothing!" She laughed nervously. "Let's just go on back." She smiled sweetly at Dart, begging him to let it go.

Dart knew what she wanted within an instant and begrudgingly agreed. "Alright, let's go back." He wasn't even thinking of the obstacle of the trash.

Shana sucked in a breath as she remembered the trash. What about the trash!?

_Oh, right! Don't worry about it._

For a split second Shana swore shesaw the man back where he'd bee before, smiling in earnest at her. Then the switch was pulled down and pushed back up, and he was gone again.

Dart started. "Woah! What the heck was that!?"

Shana giggled softly. "Let's just say it was magic." She sent another playful smile Dart's way before trotting happily back across the messy shaft ahead of Dart. She wasn't worried, he'd catch up.

"Have fun in wonderland?" Rose quipped sarcastically when the made it to the other side.

Shana puffed out her lower lip as she said, "It wasn't totally useless! See!" She grabbed the ball back out and flashed it before their eyes.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest, raising a brow. "What is it?"

Shana put the ball back in her pocket, shifting nervously. "Well…I…um…don't really know." She started to twist her hair around her fingers. "But it is definitely important!"

Albert shook his head at her. They were wasting time.

Haschel shrugged. He'd learned in his many years that one shouldn't be so quick to dismiss anyone or thing. For all they knew it could be a key. "Keep it." Haschel made sure to tell her. "Maybe it will come in handy later."

No one else really believed this, but they didn't feel like arguing their case because they had a feeling Haschel didn't completely believe it either. Instead they all backtracked to the first room of the castle to try another elevator. There were still two after all.

Once standing at the center they started to vote on which way to go first. "That one is obviously the main one." Dart said. "We should pick it."

Rose agreed with him, taking these meaningless side trips was, well, just that…meaningless.

Shana, Haschel, and Albert thought otherwise. "You never know." Shana tried to win them over. "I mean…it was built for a reason."

Dart looked with uncertainty at Rose. He knew his judgment would be impaired when choosing between what Shana wanted and what he wanted. "Well…?" He shrugged.

Rose's foot had started to tap on its own, a sure sign or her irritation toward this pointless argument. "We really shouldn't." She warned.

Shana looked at Dart with pleading eyes. "Please?"

Dart's eyes darted from Shana to Rose repeatedly, beads of sweat forming on his brow. "But…it couldn't hurt." He chuckled, hoping Rose wouldn't have a fit.

Rose nearly went off on him for choosing his heart over logic, but stopped herself as she thought about her own foolish decisions made on the same basis. Hers had ended quite poorly and so she figured that if she were allowed to make such mistakes then Dart should be allowed a few as well. "Fine."

Shana's smile spread clear across her face and her eyes glimmered brightly. As this happened she really couldn't say for sure whether it was simply because she got her way or because he had picked her way over Rose's. She had beaten Rose, and no matter how much Rose may have liked her, this was still a victory.

Rose casually walked over to the elevator and tossed in more powder. They had about three fourths left. "Let's go." She stepped in first knowing it wouldn't go until at least one of the others were in as well.

The elevator went up this time, stopping even with the grated footing they'd seen before. At this height things looked much nicer, less foreboding. For a moment even Dart thought that this place almost looked like a home. And it probably was to the tired soldiers who continuously scanned the place. But in the next instant the feeling was gone. He saw the castle as what it was, a place for the devil.

They quickly shuffled along, walking into a room that was so thick with green smog that each of them at first gasped at the change in atmosphere. "What is this place?" Haschel squeezed out, squinting to see through the green.

"A room only a few people are meant to ever step foot into." Albert answered before Rose could, cringing faintly as he anticipated her reaction.

Rose scowled at him for a fraction of a second, but amazingly let it go rather quickly. The way she saw it this was his one chance to actually sound like he knew what he was talking about. After this the spotlight would be all hers.

Shana coughed some as they went slowly down some steps. "I can see why." The only other place that made her feel so suffocated was back in the poison forest. Although she was pretty sure this time she wouldn't fall over and die.

They hopped down a larger step that nearly tripped them up due to impaired vision and then found themselves a few feet from a man. They hadn't seen him before and were amazed they could now.

What was really freaky were the items set all around the area behind him. There was a cabinet full of multicolored vials, vases with powders spilling over the sides, a strange wheel mechanism which was still at the moment, and even what appeared to be a cauldron boiling with strange ingredients in fire.

As one of them accidentally kicked a stray instrument the man working diligently spun hastily about, eyes wide in a mixture of shock and fear as his heart skipped a beat. "You…" he breathed, pointing a shaking finger at each of them. "Who-Who are you!?"

Dart went to open his mouth to answer, being rudely cut off before he had the chance.

"I know!" the man exclaimed, eyes seeming to shake as much as the rest of him. "You are thieves who've come to steal my magic!"

Each of them looked at the man as if he were stupid, frowns planted on their lips and disbelief in their eyes. "Wait!" Dart tried to explain, waving his arms in the negative. "We are…"

"No excuse!" He cried sharply, an angry fire flaring up in his eyes.

Dart took a step back, putting an arm out in front of Shana to shield her as well as the others. "Watch out!" He warned, face wary. "We don't know what he'll do."

The faintest of smiles passed Rose's lips. "Let him." She shrugged, leaning back against the stone step they'd jumped down. "It seems interesting."

The man snickered sinisterly. "Take this!" He cried, thrusting his hand forward. "The steel shearing vacuum blade!"

As everything remained as it had been before Dart started to believe his worry had been sorely misplaced. He appeared to be a sham, kind of like the salesman, so he crossed his arms over his chest and gave the man a stern look to show his opinion.

The man opened and closed his mouth around empty words, expression void of the previous smugness. "W-Why?" He murmured, shaking his head slowly. "Why doesn't the magic work!? Why doesn't it shear them!?" He couldn't understand this.

Rose shook her head. "It's worse than I thought." This man was quite clearly insane.

The man stared blankly at them a moment more before shaking his head fiercely to clear his head. "That was…still under research!" He insisted, face hardening. "I'll show you this!" He flashed another dark smile. "Take the rock crushing thunder arrow!"

Dart moved his hands into his pockets and started tapping a foot in impatience. Rose had been right, this was pointless. This man was off his rocker.

"I see…" Haschel chuckled loudly. "You are the researcher who is 'too late' aren't you?"

Shana started slightly, clasping her hands in front of her chest as her eyes softened. She felt bad for him. "Then…Mr. Magi is…?"

"Humph!" He thrust his head up into the air, hands clenched into tight fists "Those dumb researchers of trashy stuff said something to you, didn't they!?" He snarled, bringing his fiery gaze back down to them to bore a hole clear through each of them.

Rose sighed heavily. While this was rather amusing to watch him be so stupid they really didn't have the time of day to be doing this. "Leave us alone." She growled with an edge, standing back up straight.

Albert rubbed his temple methodically, sighing, "We are not here to criticize your research."

Mr. Magi's eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "Shut up!" He snapped harshly. "I have already made the discovery! The secret of a magic that those losers could never even hope to know!" He pointed back up the stairs toward the others.

Dart raised a brow in slight interest. Even though he doubted that whatever it was could be performed he couldn't help himself.

Mr. Magi shook his fist at them. "The magic of transformation can only be known by someone like me, who completely understands the magical power of dragons! And I'll show it to you now!" He laughed maniacally. "Cerberus! Emerge!" He threw his hands into the air.

Dart stumbled back a step, pulling Shana closer to him in anticipation. "It seems real this time!"

Shana let out a soft yelp, ducking her head and holding on tightly to Dart.

Mr. Magi's body turned completely white and he turned ten times his normal size, body morphing into a different shape all the while.

Rose had her hand on her weapon just in case, eyes hard and mouth turned into a sharp frown.

A blinding light sparked from him, making it impossible for Dart and the others to see what he had become. "Be ready!" He warned, staring intensely ahead of him as he too let a hand go to his weapon.

But instead of a terrifying roar erupting from the light there was a sharp bark and then heavy panting.

Everyone started, relaxing as the light dissipated to reveal the tiny form of a brown dog. Haschel even started to laugh like crazy, bent over from hilarity.

Shana moved away from Dart's loose grip on her, bending down to her knees as the dog came cheerfully up to her, whining softly. "I wonder?" She breathed, reaching out to pet the dog on the head gently. "Is this dog, Mr. Magi?" She smiled in amusement at the thought.

Albert chuckled, shrugging as a smile passed his lips. "I guess it requires more research to be controlled by humans."

Rose smirked, smiling on the inside. "But at least in the end he amused us." She tried to think positively for once. But mostly it wasn't her being positive, just her commenting on Mr. Magi's utter stupidity.

Even though they all saw what she meant, they still had to agree. Mr. Magi was quite the idiot. Only Shana didn't shrug along with everyone else, her eye had caught sight of an object on the floor. "Hey…" she breathed, reaching out to take a hold of the ball. "Look!" She exclaimed, beaming. "It's another ball."

Dart looked at her hand curiously, seeing that it was almost a duplicate of the one she'd found earlier. "Only it's blue." He took note of.

"You think I was right then!?" her heart skipped a beat in her chest. She was rarely if ever right, so this was an amazing feeling. "Is it important!?" She asked Rose more than anyone else, staring at her with wide, hopeful eyes.

Rose tapped her chin thoughtfully, torn between being right and allowing Shana one of the few moments of victory she'd ever get. "Probably." She said carefully, not full out saying she was wrong. "Probably a key."

Shana giggled cutely, eyes shutting for a moment as she grinned.

"Good work, Shana." Dart complimented, patting her on the shoulder. "Now we just have to find out where they go."

"Yes, and I have a feeling it will be to the main chamber." Albert hadn't incorporated such an aspect into his own castle because he was too trusting, but if he knew his uncle as good as he thought he did then this would be something he would try.

Haschel nodded, hands locked behind his back. "Then we should be off. There is but one way to go!" He smiled fleetingly.

Dart nodded the same as Haschel. "Come on, Shana." He made sure she had been paying attention unlike at the garbage room. He even offered a hand to her.

Shana smiled warmly at him, but she couldn't bring herself to take his offer. As much as she still loved him and yearned for him to love her back she couldn't do it right now. Lavitz was still heavy on her mind. "I'm coming." She then walked on ahead without waiting for him.

Dart stared after her for a fraction of the second before hurrying on after her. Women – they were so unpredictable, alien-like even.

Once up the main elevator they found themselves in a small space between another floor and two corridors. "Does everything have to be so small?" Dart complained, pushing back to the front.

Albert knew the answer to this. "Once we get to the throne room it won't be." He promised. "It's beyond huge. I guess that's why everything else isn't. Doel likes to think he is better than everyone else."

Rose was getting irritated by his flow of knowledge and, for a moment, wondered if that's how the others thought of her when she rattled on about the ancient creatures and objects. She even cringed faintly at the notion. She hoped this wasn't so. She did want them to like her, no matter what she said.

They walked around in a dizzying circle to get a better feel of how much was left to cover and, finally, chose to go up the first elevator they'd seen in the second room. On cue Rose tossed in another handful of powder, the container igniting like always. "Come on."

They went up to the third floor, piling out without thinking. It was Shana who happened to notice the three men training not far to their left. "Oh!" She squeaked, pulling out her bow and arrow with blinding speed to hit one dead on in the head.

The other two started as they saw their partner collapse to the floor with an arrow now in his head and fresh blood seeping from the wound. "W-What the-"

"Invader!" The second cried out, pointing over to where Dart and his friends stood.

Dart was startled by the combination of Shana's quick acting and the guards sharp yet fearful voices.

They both drew out their sword. "You!" The first pointed his weapon at Dart. "You had such good luck sneaking up to the Commander's quarters, didn't you!?" He sneered.

"But you won't be getting away!" The second chirped, laughing hysterically before he charged side by side with the other.

Albert rolled his eyes, leaping over the others with the aid of his javelin to land perfectly behind the two soldiers. He didn't even have to turn around, just stabbed his javelin backwards.

Rose, Dart, and Shana could scarcely believe it. As Albert fought the only one that managed to avoid his initial attack he was using tactics identical to Lavitz. It made each of them ache inside and, for Rose, realize how much like Lavitz Albert really was. She even thought that perhaps it wouldn't be so hard getting used to the king if he didn't pick at her anymore.

In another minute both the men lay dead at Albert's feet, him not even breaking a sweat. The only indicator that he had been doing anything out of the ordinary was his slightly above normal breathing. "Well, that takes care of that." He nodded firmly, smiling broadly as he walked back over to the others. "And good work Shana." He remembered to add.

Shana smiled shyly. "I just did what I had to." Normally killing wouldn't be something she did on a whim, but this time had been different somehow. She'd seen the evil glimmer in the one soldier's eyes as he laid eyes on them. She couldn't let him get the first hit, or worse, land an instant kill like she had to him.

Dart nodded in appreciation to the both of them. "You did great."

Rose averted her eyes. She couldn't bring herself to compliment him, not just yet. But to be fair she wouldn't compliment Shana either despite the fact she was incredibly proud of her quick acting.

"Rose." Dart said, her jerking her head around quickly to bore a hole into him as she thought he was going to try and force her to give a compliment. "Um…" he was taken aback by her icy stare. "I just need you to start that elevator."

Rose's fear induced anger died instantly, a blank expression taking its place. "Oh, right." She moved to the elevator and put a little less in than before. They were starting to run out.

"They said we were at the Commander's quarters." Dart reminded. "So a higher authority is probably up this one which they were guarding."

Everyone nodded in agreement. "Right."

They piled in, this one more fitting for them probably because it led to the Commander, whoever that was. So it was more than likely built to a more favorable size as a courtesy. "This is nice." Haschel commented, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Especially for an old guy like me."

Shana, however, did not share his sentiments. She had the most awful feeling in her heart than ever before. It was a more sickening feeling even than when she had fell ill in the forest. She knew something bad was about to happen, it was undeniable.

The elevator made a strange noise and then stopped at the next floor with a spluttering sound. Dart wondered if it was broken. But that was the last thought he had before his attention was dragged over to Shana.

Shana was trembling faintly, hands clasped so tightly together that she swore she was drawing her own blood.

A moment after the sound of the elevator hitching reached the Commander he turned slowly around. "You are here." He breathed in sadness as well as relief, a small pained smile reaching his lips. "…the girl from Seles…"

Dart tensed instantly, eyes going wide and then narrowing into thin slits. "You said 'the girl from Seles'?" He growled defensively, pulling out his sword in case he had to act fast.

Shana cowered pitifully as her shivers increased to convulsions, backing far away from him too to insure her safety. "You-You took me away to Hellena." She whimpered, lip quivering.

"Indeed." He nodded gravely. "I am the one who assaulted Seles under the orders of Emperor Doel."

Dart let loose a furious growl, snarling, "So, you killed everybody!?"

The Commander shook his head slowly, not bothered at all by the sword inches from him and the impending doom that loomed in the form of this youth. "That was done by the brutal unit loyal to Fruegel. I wouldn't let them kill unnecessarily if I were there" He licked his lips, waiting a moment to see if Dart would strike out regardless. When he didn't he continued, "Anyway, it doesn't change the fact that Imperial Sandora scorched Seles."

Dart growled at a lower pitch, teeth bared to the point they hurt and eyes ablaze. He didn't believe him. If this were true he would have done something to stop it while he had been there. Yet…he couldn't get his trembling hands gripping his sword to obey him and lash out. Could it be that a part of him truly did trust him? Or was he simply tentative to take the life of someone who at least pretended to be noble?

Shana was starting to calm down now, her sad scared facial expression transforming to one of serenity. She was starting to see that this man was not the trouble. However she still couldn't bring herself to release the hold she had around her own body.

The others simply stood back, taking in the whole scene but not daring to intervene. They saw this was Dart's battle, his choice whether or not to spring on the man before them.

The Commander was mildly surprised as Dart held himself back, so he chose to tell him that he did not mind if he were to go after him. "So if you want revenge for your home, you can draw your sword against me." He shrugged. Nothing really mattered to him anymore, not after what had happened to Doel. "But please do me one last favor."

Dart raised a brow, eyes locked on the man as he remained ever wary.

The Commander was very aware that Dart's eyes were trained on him as he walked over to his bed and began to riffle through a bag. He made sure to elaborate as he did so, taking advantage of Dart's willingness to remain impartial. "His Majesty Doel changed after a man called Lloyd showed up." A glare flickered across his features as he spoke the truth aloud. "He must have instilled something into Emperor Doel, a demonic word that ignites his desire to vanquish…"

Lloyd. The sound of his name made Dart bristle and his desire to kill spark, mainly to kill **him**. He would exact his revenge, eventually. But despite this Dart's muscles were relaxing, his fierce glare fading as he saw the man before him tormenting himself by admitting these things. Even without seeing his face he could just feel the sorrow emanating from him.

The Commander smiled painfully, taking in a deep breath. "You were able to make it here, so you might be able to do it." He finally found what he'd been looking for, turning back to face them all. "I beg you! Wake Emperor Doel up!"

In the end it was the strangled sound of his voice and his clear desperation that had Dart lowering his weapon back down to his side. "Do you understand what will result?" Dart muttered evenly, slowly. He wanted to be a hundred percent sure he was in his right state of mind.

The Commander snorted at the question. "Yes." He wasn't insane, like Dart obviously was considering. He just couldn't stand this war any longer. "If you can accomplish that, then Imperial Sandora's dominance will end and we even might be defeated by Basil…

Dart sheathed his sword, the most at ease with a supposed enemy than he'd ever been. Still, the one thing keeping him from total bliss was Shana. He may not have wanted this to happen, but he had played a part. He took Shana. So to quail this slowly rising flame he took a step in Shana's direction and wrapped a protective arm around her.

Shana was completely at ease at this point, especially with Dart holding on to her. She then leaned her head over to rest easily on his shoulder, closing her eyes and breathed out softly.

The Commander knew he was close to convincing Dart of his intentions. Besides, it was surely what they had come for anyway. "The result will be the same if the current oppression of Emperor Doel continues." He grumbled miserably. "So we might as well make it happen faster and remove hardships on our people."

There was the tiniest of smiles coming to Dart's face. He even felt he might cry as he thought to Lavitz and how he might have reacted. "There was a man like this in Sandora…" Dart sighed contentedly, gaze flickering up to the ceiling, only not to look at the ceiling. He was looking past that, up into the sky where he imagined Lavitz was looking back from. "Lavitz would be happy to hear this."

The Commander grinned for the first time during the conversation. "So…are you in!?" He cried, bringing his hands upward in clenched fists as his way of holding his breath in anticipation.

Dart nodded. "That's what we are here for."

The Commander sighed heavily. "I'm relieved to hear that." He outstretched his hand, letting his fingers fall away from the center to reveal a yellow ball. "Now, take this with you."

Dart took it without thinking, staring at it only after it lay in his palm. "What is this?" He had to ask. There were too many of them for it to be just an any day ball. The fact they were made of a crystalline substance only furthered his curiosity.

The Commander figured an outsider wouldn't understand, but Dart's reaction seemed more than that. He must have already found at least one of the others. "It's the 'key' to the chamber of Emperor Doel."

"Key?" Albert piped up, lifting his head up some to reveal his eager eyes.

The Commander nodded faintly, amused by Albert's interest. "There are three keys, these balls, to get into Doel's chambers. It's a safety thing." He grumbled a few incoherent words beneath his breath before adding, "Another addition because of Lloyd."

"Amazing…" Albert breathed.

The Commander did a double take then, something about the long blonde haired man before him striking a chord of his memory. What was it? Why did he look so familiar? It wasn't that he was the king, this he'd figured out instantly. It was something else. "Who are you?" He asked carefully, scrutinizing Albert fully.

Albert stepped back once, mouth twitching downward as he instantly grew wary. "Why?" His hand was positioned on his javelin, ready at any moment to use it if he had to.

The Commander shook his head and waved his hands back and forth. "Nothing, never mind. You just…reminded me of someone." His mind flashed back again, a small face grinning at him.

Albert stared just as intently at this man, starting as it dawned on him. "You…you were Doel's right hand man." Albert recalled. "You always played with me."

The Commander smirked in knowing. "I knew it. You were that little brat."

Albert didn't like being called that, but he mostly ignored the feeling. "Yeah, Doel's my uncle." He admitted to bitterly.

The Commander nodded. "I see. Well, you grew up just fine considering all that happened."

Albert shrugged. "Thanks."

The Commander hadn't seen Albert in over a decade, yet certain aspects had barely changed. And still he managed to be so different from the little boy he'd been forced to chase around the castle from time to time. But as much as he'd have liked to hear about what had happened with him, it just wasn't the right time. "Now hurry up!" He said sharply, going back into serious mode. "We have no time."

Dart and Albert nodded in unison. He was absolutely right. They had to go! "We'll bring Doel down." Dart assured. "We can't fail!"

As they gathered in the elevator one last thought struck the Commander. "Oh! To get there you have to go back to the elevator by this one, most don't realize it, but it takes you up again."

The elevator sprang to life then, Dart nodding to him just before they disappeared beneath him. This was perfect. Now they had everything they needed.

**So, what do you think? I still don't know about posting the second book. Maybe. I'm starting to lean that way. I have it all written out too. It's been done since the summer before last. I haven't done the third one yet though. So when I do it'll have more of my recent (and in my opinion better) writing style. Miranda though...I need help with her. So please review!**

**And yes, commander totally begins with a capital letter. It's his name! XD**


	20. A Familiar Face

**Once more I was lazier than anything and didn't proofread. It's been a while though so I wanted to update. The second to last chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

They took the elevator that the Commander had told them to, going up to find a dark hallway with an astonishingly bright light ahead. Dart knew this must mean they were only a little bit away from their destination.

And as they stepped into the light they were greeted with a most beautiful sight. In the middle of the room stood a large, magnificent, white statue. It was of a woman of great stature, with beauty that had somehow been preserved in the statue of her. In her hands at her chest she held an orb, similar to the ones Dart had, and her hair spread out like a peacock's feathers. There was not a nick or flaw to be seen. And the bright light shining down from above her only served to make her more angelic.

Every one of them gazed up at it as if in a trance, only able to walk forward blindly as they did so.

"Oh…!" A man in a silk red robe called from ahead. "What are you doing here?"

They all snapped out of it, shaking their heads fervently to rid themselves of any lingering captivity. "We were…we were just looking." Dart managed, looking down at the white circle the man stood within instead of the man himself.

The man nodded solemnly. "I see…" he knew what Dart meant, but went on as if he didn't. "It is unusual to have guests at this time, but it's fine." He smiled broadly. "Let me talk to you."

Dart really didn't want to, but he found himself agreeing all the same as he noticed both Rose and Shana were nodding faintly.

The robed man chuckled, amused for an instant that Dart so easily bent to the women's will. He then cleared his throat before beginning, "The long war decays people's hearts." He scanned each over. "It must have happened to you too."

Albert, Dart, and Rose cringed most of all, teeth grit. But they didn't say a word.

The robed man saw their distress as plain as day and knew he didn't have to call them out on it, he simply gave his reasoning. "Your bloodstained armor tells all." He motioned to them.

Dart grimaced, looking down at his wear as well as the others. It was true. They looked awful, like blood thirsty monsters to an outsider. So after this it would be first on his things to do, get cleaned up.

The robe man sighed heavily. "However, it's not just you." He wanted them to know this. "His Majesty Doel is also experiencing the fatigue of war…" he trailed off, disgruntled by the spoken truth.

Albert had begun twiddling his thumbs in unease. It didn't matter that Doel was the enemy, he couldn't untrain himself. He was still his uncle and he loved him no matter what he did, even the act of killing his father hadn't been enough. So hearing this made him sad.

Haschel felt bad simply because he saw how sad it was making Albert. They had a sort of connection going and even after such a short time of knowing him he felt that they practically shared their emotions.

But Rose just shrugged. So what? This man had brought it upon himself by sparking the war in killing Albert's father. Him being fatigued made no difference to her. She'd kill him on sight.

The robed man went on, directing their eyes back to the statue that climbed at least a hundred feet above him. "This statue of the goddess was created in memory of the late wife of Emperor Doel, Empress Karina." He smiled tenderly as he turned halfway to get a better look at it himself. "It shows the frailty and fondness of Emperor Doel."

Shana smiled tenderly, hands clasped at her chest, at the statue. Even now it still took her breath away with its beauty beyond words. It really made her feel for Doel even if he had ordered her to be taken away. Someone who could erect a statue of such grandeur to his wife couldn't be all bad. "It's…beautiful."

The robed man grimaced noticeably. "He, however, continues the war for his own ambitions, with increasing scenes of carnage." He slumped some. "It shows his strength and cruelness."

Rose bowed her head some. Yes, this was no surprise. It is how humans functioned since the dawn of time, on opposing characteristics. You needed both to live a fulfilled life, but you also needed to be able to balance the two in order to remain happy. That was the trouble; that was her trouble.

"Strength and frailty…fondness and cruelty…" He paused to remember Doel before the war consumed him. "You must have them inside you, because the human heart can envelope them all."

Dart nodded faintly, eyeing the robed man strangely. What a weird thing to say to them, even if he knew their true intentions.

The man smiled again, teeth showing this time. "Face up to your true self." His eyes were glued to Rose for a reason he couldn't quite comprehend. "Then you will become as strong as Emperor Doel."

Dart didn't know if he meant this as the end of the conversation or not, but regardless he felt glued to the spot. He had found in these moments that he actually liked listened to this man talk. He was most wise.

As they remained in front of him the man let them know, "This is all I want to say." He smiled warmly again. "If you are lost you can come visit me anytime. I'll help you find the way."

Shana was the one to nod, grabbing onto the upper part of Dart's arm. "Come on, we have to go now."

Dart allowed Shana to lead him and the others back some in order to take the path up a wooden staircase built around the statue and led up to a balcony at the same angle as they'd been talking to the robed man, only higher up.

They didn't think it was possible, but somehow the marble statue was even more beautiful from here. Yet Rose managed to tear her gaze away to look down at the circular area surrounded by a railing that they now stood on. Rose didn't associate it with this, but it looked like a poker chip of white and brown with a triangle at the center in a tinier brown circle. Someone had definitely spent a lot of time on this.

Haschel was the next to break away from the spell, gaze landing instead on the brown metal object set at the front of the statue where a piece of the railing would have been. It had three holes in it connected by three strips to form that triangle shape like on the floor. "Three holes…" he breathed.

Shana perked, looking first at him and his puzzled features then to what his eyes remained set on. "They might have something to do with the statue of the goddess." She said without thinking, it just made sense.

Hearing Shana's voice brought Dart back to reality. "Huh? Why do you think so?"

"Because, look…" She pointed up at the statue, risking getting Dart trapped by its beauty again. "It seems this place is for admiring the statue."

It was true, this place even more so than the bottom because from here the beauty ensnared any and all who laid eyes on it. If he hadn't known better he'd say some mind controlling device was being used. But the thought made him laugh at himself in the end.

Albert finally returned to reality, blinking a couple of times to make sure it was real. "Try the crystal balls." He said upon first glance of the brown metal device.

Dart nodded, not questioning how he was able to jump into the conversation so quickly. "Yeah, of course." He drew the yellow one from his pocket, placing it carefully in the left corner.

It clicked, fitting snuggly.

He turned to Shana for the others. "You have them, right?"

Shana grinned brightly up at him. "Yes." She nodded with the whole upper half of her body, taking a stone from each of her pockets in the process. "Here."

Dart smiled warmly back at her. "Thanks." He held them both in his hands for a minute, staring intently into their depths. For a fraction of a second he even imagined he saw a small flame flickering within them. But he shrugged the notion off as he tried them.

The blue one fit in the right corner, and the red at the top point. Then, instantly after, the orb in the statue's hands burst with light, there was a loud clicking noise, wheels started turning somewhere beneath the floor, and finally a door swung open.

This startled them all. Peeking down over the railing they saw now a doorway carved into the statue. Somehow they'd managed to miss this on the way up and now felt rather stupid.

"That must be the way up…" Haschel noted. "…inside the statue." He smirked as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. Very clever.

"How clever." Albert spoke Haschel's thoughts, crossing his arms over his chest as he chuckled. "I should have known."

"Come on." Rose murmured, turning and heading slowly down the stairs to the now open door. The door she could have bragged about seeing when everyone else had missed it, but didn't. She wanted to be better no matter how hard it was.

This elevator was potentially the biggest one yet. Even though there couldn't have been more than a couple of people in it on a regular basis this still held true. And just like with the Commander, Dart knew that it was because it led to the emperor, Doel. Status was all that mattered here.

Rose tossed in the last bit of the powder, dropping the bag to the floor as the machine sprung to life and took them up to the highest floor, but not the highest point.

As they got out of the elevator and walked a ways to come out through a small opening on the other side of the statues head they were faced with a lengthy flight of stairs. Even Rose was cursing under her breath.

"Well, this is great." Haschel grumbled louder than intended, ducking his head some as he expected to get snapped at by Rose.

Rose sighed, rolling her eyes at Haschel before being the first to start the ascent. "We just have to do it." She shrugged, legs feeling like they weighed a ton more than usual already.

Albert and Haschel exchanged confused looks as she ignored his complaint, but they weren't about to ask her what was wrong. If they did then they'd surely incur her wrath. And for it to be right before a battle would be bad news.

As they grew closer to the top they started to pretend that they weren't walking at all in order to better ignore the aching in their legs. They mostly took to staring at the stairs beneath their feet. The stairs were made of a sleek marble much like the statue which was still visible from their height and still just as captivating. Only Rose noticed the railing wasn't meant to keep you from falling. The design was strange, each bit of it looking to be a cross connected with the next by the horizontal wood of each cross.

Rose wondered for a moment if this was meant to be Doel's way of clearing his conscious, that maybe remembering the ones he killed somehow made it alright to kill them in the first place. Despite the fact she found herself intrigued by this line of thinking, she could not keep the anger out of her coal eyes or the snarl from her lips. No matter how you looked at it, killing unnecessarily was wrong. Although Doel probably didn't consider this, not even with that boy who had led them here, he just didn't care.

Dart could see the large double doors now as they went around the last curve. They were carved out of beautiful wood with words in some strange language near the top. There was also a picture. Was it of…a Dragoon? As Dart squinted harder to be sure the double doors were flung open, the loud unexpected crash breaching the silence and vibrating off every inch of the castle.

They all jumped back at the sound, Dart being the only one to swing his sword out within a second of his shock. "Stay back!" He growled, eyes narrowed as he felt the air itself turn tainted. This wasn't Doel, it was someone familiar.

Upon getting a whiff of the new air she too grew tense, bared teeth showing slightly as her mouth twitched. "I smell blood in this air." She whipped out her stiletto, holding it out as far as it would reach to direct the others eyes as well as to be prepared to protect them, even Albert.

Haschel clenched his hands into tight fists, warily stepping forward to the front line. "It's not human..." He verified.

Shana sucked in a sharp breath, hands poised to draw out her bow and an arrow. Only she couldn't make herself do it in that moment, she was too surprised. All that her mind managed was to say, "K-Kongol!"

With every step he took the ground trembled terribly beneath them. They felt the vibrations run all the way up their spines. He was not as he had been before. Now he wore an armor that made him even fiercer.

The armor he now sported was gold and blue, covering every inch of his body besides the front of his face. Yes, it had a piece like a hood that guarded the rest of his head. Not only that, but the area running up his legs had spikes splintered so as to act as a weapon and guard all at once, he had long claw like spikes protruding from the tips of the hand, and the chest plate had the image of the head of a dead goat on it. It was the symbol of immortality and death to all that opposed it.

Each of them tensed even more so than they already were, Shana even backing up a step or two. She didn't mean to be a coward; she just didn't like fighting, especially when the odds were against them.

Kongol stopped a few feet away, face set in a cold, stern look. "Gigantos don't lose twice!" His armor creaked as he slung his arm up to point his claws at them in warning. "Gigantos make pay back for Hoax! For His Majesty Doel!" His scream lingered in the air long after he'd charged.

Rose didn't have the time or patience for this, so she launched carelessly at the giant brute, screaming, "Get out of the way!"

Kongol didn't move, he was as still as a statue as she approached him.

Like Haschel, Kongol needed no weapon. It was this similarity that allowed him to see the grave mistake Rose was making. "Rose!" He shrieked, eyes wide in panic. "Don't!"

Rose dismissed his cry, not trusting his judgment, and struck out at Kongol.

In one swift move Kongol slammed his fist against her cheek, his sharp extensions tearing skin off and leaving two deep gashes.

"Rose!" Albert found himself screaming despite himself, sprinting forward.

Dart shot out of place toward Rose, matching Albert's pace.

Albert swerved at the last moment away from Rose, slamming his javelin down to use it as a brace and swing around on it to knock Kongol hard in the side.

Kongol stumbled a bit, but as a whole this only served to irritate him and he swung angrily at Albert.

Shana knew Albert would get clobbered in a second flat and quickly drew her weapon, barely taking the time to aim before releasing it. She was that confident.

Haschel didn't think he could do much, but he had to do something. Being useless wasn't something he wanted to promote. So he dove at Kongol, aiming to swipe his feet out from under him.

Kongol snapped his foot up, smashing it down to catch Haschel's leg underneath.

Haschel swore he felt something snap as he was trapped between the heavy weight of the Giganto and the marble floor and he yelped sharply.

Kongol slammed his other foot at him, narrowly missing as Haschel rolled to the side.

Dart was over by Rose now, kneeling down next to her. "Are you alright!?" It was a rhetorical question since she obviously wasn't. The two fresh, deep streaks across half her face and the blooming bruise were proof enough.

Rose growled angrily, shoving herself back up into a standing position after her dazed moment. The blood dripping down her face and to the floor didn't deter her. "Fine." She shot back into a run toward Kongol, a vengeance in her steps.

Dart stared after her, sighing softly.

Shana drew another arrow, aiming more carefully at his one weakness –his head.

Kongol knocked the arrow away in one swipe, a threatening grown erupting from his throat. "Kongol no lose!" He insisted as if they cared, taking his first heavy steps after Shana.

Shana felt the earth shake beneath her, beneath this castle, but she couldn't move. She was frozen, eyes wide as a behemoth of a man charged.

Rose darted ahead of him, missing her opportunity to potentially take him out due to her emotions. Instead she found herself diving at Shana and making her fall hard on the floor with her.

Just as she was knocked down, Kongol's claws slashed through the space that she had been occupying.

Rose sighed heavily. "Stay out of the way." And she jumped back up to her feet in an instant, turning sharply around to face Kongol as he now came at her.

Dart didn't like the feeling he was getting from the situation. Something was going to happen, something bad. He needed more power, needed to be stronger, needed to win. He grasped onto the Dragoon Spirit around his neck, holding it tight, and closed his eyes. "Come on…please, work."

Haschel struggled back up to his feet hobbling some. But he mostly ignoring the agonizing pain in favor of proving he had what it took to walk beside everyone else.

Albert pole vaulted with his javelin, landing a few feet from Kongol and Rose. They were in a stalemate of the sorts.

Rose was jabbing at him every chance she got, bouncing about him like a rabbit to avoid a blow.

Kongol, on the other hand, was reaching a boiling point. He may have a lot of strength, but the one thing he failed at was speed. He could not match Rose's swift movements, getting only air. "Stop moving!"

Rose smirked darkly at Kongol, not abiding by his rule.

Kongol seethed with rage. "No more!" He announced, spinning around in a complete circle so that the only way for her to dodge would be backing up or jumping higher.

Rose leapt up and over his hand, stumbling on her landing some to allow enough time for the next hand to get to her. And she went flying.

Lucky for her it was the blunt side of his hand. But that didn't keep it sending her skidding across the floor and down a few stairs before she caught herself.

Kongol stomped over to her, hands raised up high over her and an evil smirk on his lips. "You die."

Rose scrambled backward, breathing hitching as she realized her legs weren't working for her. So as a last resort she went to trigger her Dragoon powers.

Albert didn't think twice, he thrust his javelin through the air toward Kongol's back. He didn't even care that it was Rose he was saving, all he knew was that she was trouble.

The javelin slipped through a crack in the armor, sticking fast in Kongol's back and electing a pained cry from him. As he frantically grabbed for it to wrench it out he stumbled, tumbling head first down the stairs just next to Rose.

A bright light surrounded Rose then, her body transforming into the legendary Dragoon.

Albert stopped running to her as he saw this, feeling dejected. She really didn't need his help, so suggesting that she had been in trouble by asking if she was alright would only upset her and make her go after him. So instead he swerved around her, heading for Kongol.

Shana was back on her feet now, watching as Kongol eventually stopped on the flat stretch connecting the two stairways. And she had cringed with every smack, each groan, and honestly wished they didn't have to do this to him.

Albert didn't have a weapon, but he didn't care. He'd prove himself to Rose if it was the last thing he did and he'd do it by first regaining his javelin.

Kongol turned slowly, yellow eyes burning as he lifted his hands up both defensively and offensively. He wouldn't hesitate to drive Albert through.

Albert saw the darkness in his eyes, he'd trained himself to be able to, and his heart skipped a beat at how deep the hate ran. Still, he didn't stop, reaching out for his javelin still stuck in Kongol's armor.

Kongol jerked away, slamming his hand hard on the floor to disturb the marble and shake it up in a rolling motion.

Albert was caught off guard by this strange move and was sent flying through the air to slam hard against the side of rail. He groaned lightly, rubbing his head.

Haschel was immune to the pain as he headed recklessly toward Kongol, only thinking of barring him from Albert who was weak without his weapon. "Hey! Lightweight!" Haschel snarled, throwing a punch at Kongol's face.

Kongol had been a foot from Albert when Haschel's gruff voice reached him. He instinctively snapped his head around, performing the action just in time to receive a hard punch to the face.

Haschel's fist stung slightly from the unfamiliar toughness the Giganto's face possessed. Kongol being of a different species made him different from people he usually fought. "Albert!" He immediately looked to his friend.

Albert was getting back to his feet. "I'm fine." He felt woozy from the knock on the head, stumbling slightly. "I just need my weapon." He didn't feel quite as weak asking for Haschel's help.

"Got it!" Haschel sprang forward.

Rose flung her stiletto from her high position as Kongol, aiming for the neck.

The breath was then sucked out of her as Kongol reacted lightning fast and snatched her flying sword from the air, inches from its target. He slowly turned, knocking Haschel back swiftly with his other hand in the process, his eyes lusting for blood.

Rose started, a flicker of fear stirring within her as that look pierced her. She'd rarely ever seen such a look, only one other time coming to mind. But she refused to think of it now, she had to focus.

Kongol slung her weapon across the floor, having no use for it.

Rose had given him the perfect distraction and Albert took a firm grip on his weapon, yanking as hard as he could to free it.

Kongol felt the tug, gaze jerking from Rose in her unreachable position to Albert, within inches of him. Kongol swiped at Albert angrily, bucking simultaneously to try and get Albert to release his hold.

Albert was thrown around like crazy, feet lifting up off the ground from time to time. But he refused to let go.

Kongol got smart then, he rammed into one of the pillars spiraling upward on the side of the staircase, squashing Albert between him and the solid surface.

Albert felt his very bones trembling under the sudden pressure, his breath catching in his throat, and he ultimately felt trapped.

Dart had given up on his Dragoon Spirit at this point, charging toward Kongol to help free Albert seeing as no one else was.

Kongol saw Dart coming out of the corner of his eye, slashing his claws out at him as he got within reach. However he never let up on his pressure on Albert.

Dart brought his sword down to lock with Kongol's two claws, not afraid to get hurt. "Is that all you got!?" He snarled.

Kongol let out a frustrated cry, shifting his weight just enough for Albert to slump to the floor in order to use his other hand to take a swing at Dart.

Dart smoothly dodged, jumping back with a smirk on his lips. At least Albert was free. "Try again." He taunted.

Kongol's whole body began to shake in fury and a ban of purple light spread around him for a moment as he used the one power he had been given by this suit. He slammed both his hands down on the floor, it rumbling angrily as his twin claws dug deep.

Dart's brow furrowed at this and a little too late he realized the flooring behind him had moved apart. A huge wall of concrete rose out of seemingly nowhere, dragging his body backward like a magnet to hold firmly to it.

Kongol laughed a low pitched laugh, retracting both hands from the ground and reared his right one back as far as it would go. With one tiny twitch of a muscle the armor guarding that hand shot off of him and slapped onto Dart's neck, the two claws sinking deep into the concrete on both sides of him.

Dart struggled with all he had in him, forcing his muscles to obey him and fight the magnetic pull this wall was creating. But no matter what he did, he could not move in the slightest. All he was able to do was grit his teeth and hope for a miracle.

Rose didn't think she could help him, especially without her weapon. So before even thinking of going down there she swooped toward her weapon, knowing it was the only way.

Kongol charged him, landing punches and kicks like crazy as he reached him. He didn't care what he hit; he just knew he was hitting something, causing pain.

Dart swallowed his pained cries as he was beaten senseless, only his cringing and soft as a whisper moans were indicators of his agony.

With one final move Kongol brought his hand back, it glowing a blue color of great power, and he slammed it mercilessly into Dart's chest. "Crash!" He screamed, the blow so hard it shattered the concrete behind Dart.

Dart spun through the air, crashing loudly against the floor and skidding all the way to the wall before he stopped. What was worse was that he barely had a hold of his consciousness. He felt so lost as he tried to sit up, world spinning. There was even a metallic taste in his mouth, a cool feel on his head, and a bruised sensation around the whole area of his neck.

Kongol burst into triumphant laughter, turning back around to find that Albert as well as Haschel were no longer laying helplessly on the ground.

Albert was behind him again and Haschel was quickly approaching his front, ready to knock his lights out this time around.

Kongol flicked his wrist and his hand guard came soaring back to him, latching perfectly on to the arm armor and giving him back his perfect weapon.

Haschel threw a dangerously angry punch at Kongol. And, although you might not think so, an intent to kill could be placed in your fist. His daughter had shown him this.

Kongol allowed himself to be smacked hard in the face and stumble back before he lashed out and took Haschel by the wrist. He then tossed him effortlessly across the room, toward the railing, toward the edge. He also made sure to slam his fist down and toss him into the air with the aid of the rolling floor.

Albert reached out for Haschel as Haschel was slammed down, head snapping up with a crack noise. "Haschel!" He screamed, low growl erupting. "I'll kill you!" He directed at Kongol.

Kongol swirled about to face the upset king, jamming one of his two claws all the way through one of his arms. It made a squishing noise as Kongol moved the slightest bit, and blood splattered as he tossed Albert as far as he could.

Albert sucked in a sharp breath, quickly moving to reach out for any source of a brace as he realized he wasn't heading back toward the ground. He was going clear over the small railing.

Rose's eyes caught the faint movement of his flying as well as the frantic acts to grasp onto something solid. And without thinking her natural instinct of battle kicked in.

Albert's hands gripped onto the crosses, holding his breath as he hoped they'd hold him. When they didn't, snapping due to his extreme downward pull, he lost everything. The breath fled his lungs in a second flat, the life in his green eyes vanished, and he felt a tight grip around his chest as his heart beat a million miles an hour. The only good thing was that he felt numb, so he wouldn't be able to feel the shock as he smacked the down on the ground.

Suddenly, it all stopped. Everything. Even the never ending stream of images of his life that flooded his mind disappeared as a pair of delicate hands held tightly onto his shoulders. "Breathe." She hissed, tickling his ear.

Albert only did so when she ordered him to, gasping for his right to live and clutched his hands on his chest desperately. He even made a soft whining sound.

Rose sighed irritably at the noise. "You can't let people get the better of you." Her voice was course, but less harsh than it had even been to him. "You have to focus, plan."

Albert managed to nod and stiffen to look strong, when really he felt like he might die from all this – the pressure, the close shave with death, and all other hell.

"Now…!" She barked, eyes narrowing. "We're going to get back your stupid weapon."

A blinding light burst forth from the corner of Shana's eye then, and as she turned she was awestruck to see Dart in his red Dragoon armor before her. His face was set hard, a faint smirk of satisfaction on his lips. "Get ready!" He called out, shooting up higher in the air to try and do as Rose had made him earlier.

Shana watched him anxiously, scared for him.

Rose released one hand holding Albert's shoulder as they raced toward Kongol, taking her stiletto out and flinging it across the room to where Kongol was standing over Haschel.

Kongol's back arched as the special weapon sank through his golden armor and pierced him, draining a degree of his energy.

"Now!" Rose screamed, tossing Albert into the air like a circus performer. As she did so she couldn't say she expected him to do it out of determination, possibly not at all, but she rather hoped he transformed. Otherwise he'd probably break a bone or two on the landing.

Albert's breath became stuck in his throat as she released him into the empty air high over Kongol and his brain froze over. He was going to die; he was going to freaking die. It was his next thought, however, that ended up saving him.

Dart was set up so very high now, concentrating as he remembered Rose telling him to do. _Concentrate…but relax._ It hadn't made sense then, and didn't much now, but he could feel his body obeying his thoughts. As he did so a wall of fire formed, just like before, and Dart couldn't help but chuckle.

The bright light wrapped around Albert as he drew within feet of Kongol's back, him bursting out beautifully to nab his javelin effortlessly from where it stuck. It came so easy it was hard to believe it had ever been truly stuck. And as he held it, it changed into the large javelin fit for a Dragoon, one that could kill.

Dart's fireball was better shaped than it had been before but it still wasn't right. Although in this moment it didn't matter all that much, not with what was at stake.

Rose flicked her wrist, calling her stiletto back to her as she swooped down within reach of Kongol who was trying desperately to reach for a weapon that was now removed. "You'll pay." She hissed, slicing at the shoulder to try a trick.

Now that her weapon was magical, it went straight through the armor, disconnecting it completely from the rest and deeming it useless as it clattered to the floor beside Kongol.

Kongol felt the painful slice as her blade also cut through his skin some and his hand instantly shot to it, holding it like a child might.

Dart's hands shook as he held the large fireball, wondering how he was going to aim this. Rose hadn't given specific instructions on that one, only on how to create the fireball. So with a faint shrug to himself he followed the rule she said most aspects correlated with, just believe…want it bad enough. And he sent the fireball flying.

Albert felt himself losing his powers as a Dragoon as he knelt down by Haschel who was just now getting up. "You ok?" Albert pressed.

Haschel nodded, brushing himself off as he stood as straight as he could. "Yeah."

Shana shrieked at a high volume as she saw the fireball headed for Kongol, who was in close proximity to the two men.

Albert snapped his head around, eyes widening as he saw what was headed way to close to them. "Hold on!" He told Haschel, grabbing onto an arm and zoomed into the air to get up to the next level.

Rose knew what was going to happen, looking around to make sure no one was too close, and then she too flew a bit higher.

The fireball smacked down with an unmatched force, burning a hole clear through the marble right next to Kongol and sent a heat wave rolling from the focal point instantly after.

The blast, even though the main part had missed, slammed Kongol back against a pillar. Kongol let out a low groan, his body burning from the flame even through his armor. He was shocked further as he tasted metal on his lips, fresh blood trickling from his mouth.

Dart floated gently back down to the ground, the attack tiring him to the point he didn't feel like he could stay this way. The light glowed around him again and he was himself again, bent over and breathing heavy.

Shana ran to him, still keeping an eye down on Kongol to see when and if he would move again. "Dart!" she cried, hugging him. "That was amazing!"

Dart smiled softly. "I guess it was." He admitted, smirking.

Albert too was back in human form, holding Haschel up since the pain the old man had endured was coming back to him as the tense moments of battle slowly faded.

Rose came down to where Kongol was lying up against the pillar, eyes barely open. "Pathetic." She scoffed. "I though Gigantos were stronger than this."

Kongol struggled to make himself stand at her words, needing to prove he was strong enough. "I no lose…" he insisted, shaking his head slowly.

Rose scoffed, turning herself back to normal for this. "You already have lost." She informed him, skewering off his armor in one could sweep with her stiletto.

The magical armor fell in pieces around him and that, for him, was somehow the last straw. He stumbled to the side, trying to get away. But in only a few steps his legs started quivering and caved beneath him, too weak to support his weight another moment.

The others were down at the level Rose and Kongol were at now, staring.

Kongol's whole body was shaking now from pain and disgrace as he could not get himself up off of his hands and knees. "Gigantos, with strongest armor…lost." His voice shook as bad as his body. "Me, brother of hero…has pride. Can not live in disgrace…"

Shana's eyes saddened further, her grip on Dart's arm tightening. Even though he had fought them, twice now, she somehow didn't want to see him die. "Dart…" she breathed.

Kongol's eyes were even filling with tears as he said two words. "Kill me."

Rose smirked darkly. He actually had dignity, asking for this instead of begging for his life. "As you wish." She shrugged, rearing her sword back for one final blow that would take his head off.

Dart growled in frustration. "Stop it!" His fists clenched and he jerked himself as well as Shana forward so that Rose would see him. "The game is already over!"

A furious look passed Rose's eyes at the way he chose to word his sentence. "'Game'?" She spat, turning her fiery eyes on Dart as she lowered her weapon only slightly. "Don't be stupid. This is a matter of life or death."

Shana left Dart to walk closer to Kongol and bend down some to see for herself. "It's over." She breathed in conclusion, rising back up to turn and face the rest, mostly Rose. "He can not fight." She hung her head and shook it pitifully, pleading for Rose to stop. Her hands were clasped at her chest, and eyes so sad they could have broken anyone's heart, completing the picture of innocent sadness.

Rose gritted her teeth, a soft growl passing through them. "Hope your sweetness won't kill you." She scoffed, flipping her head to the side as she sheathed her sword begrudgingly.

Dart sighed at both Shana and Rose. Most of all he couldn't believe Rose had heeded to anyone's desires but her own. It was a huge step. "We should heal real quick." He moved on from Kongol.

Shana nodded to him, remaining in place for a minute.

Everyone headed back up the stairs to the landing right before the large doors. This was the last chance they'd have to rest.

Shana went to follow, eyes flickering back to Kongol for an instant before she ran to catch up.

Kongol never stopped shaking as he was glued to the floor. "Me lost…" he whispered tearfully. "Why you kind to me…?"

Shana knew he wouldn't hear her, but she answered anyway. "Because you don't deserve to die…"

Albert didn't know why they were all sitting down, but he followed suit. Maybe they had some kind of healing herbs with them.

Shana caught up with them, kneeling down at the center of the semi-circle they'd created. "So, Rose…you think I can do it without transforming?"

Rose rested an arm on her raised knee, thinking about this. "It should work." She finally decided.

Shana nodded, smiling happily. "Ok!" She first went to Dart, holding up her Dragoon Spirit close to his chest. From this central point her energy should flow through his whole body easily, from his bleeding head right down to his busted knees.

The light of her spirit flashed brightly, but not as bright as the first time. So the healing light only reached him. It brought a relaxing feeling to him that snaked its way through his whole body and revitalized him fully. "Amazing." He sighed, pulling Shana close as the light faded. "You're amazing."

Shana blushed a deep red, smiling in embarrassment mingled with pride. "It's not me." She murmured, "It's this Dragoon Spirit."

Rose interjected. "No, it takes both. The user has to be kind, tender hearted, and forgiving. But most importantly-they must know and understand the value of life. Without these, the White Silver Dragoon Spirit is virtually useless."

Shana smiled sadly. She thought back to Lavitz. "I see." She pulled away from Dart, no matter how much she relished in his touch, in order to go to Rose. "Here." Shana held her spirit up again and the scars on her face vanished in a few moments.

Rose didn't smile, but she didn't have to. "Thanks." She muttered instead, even though actions spoke louder than words. She was the exception in that moment.

Shana did the other two as well, Haschel with his fractured bones and Albert with his bruised and bleeding body. She did it all without thinking about it, it was that easy. And they all thanked her accordingly.

It was only as she got up and turned away from them that she let her composure slip. She bit her lip, eyes shut tight, and wrapped her arms around herself in self-comfort. A tear even slipped from her eye and down her cheek. If only it could have been this easy for Lavitz. If only she had saved him.

**How was it? I still hate the style. But the general flow of the story is ok. What do you think? Constructive criticism is much appreciated. Please review! :)**


	21. Final Battle

**I should have reread it and edited it a bit. Didn't though. I stink. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. It's the last chapter of what was undoubtedly an amazing ride for me. It was the first book I ever finished. And it will always hold a place in my heart.**

Dart and Albert weren't entirely sure that they would be able to transform again after such a short rest, but they didn't voice their concerns. Even at this point Albert had come to trust Rose and her ability to handle situations with or without a great deal of help. So they simply went in with no real plan.

Rose didn't know why she was at the front of them as they charged into the throne room. She was not the leader, Dart was. Although she figured it was a combination of uncertainty and even a bit of fear. And they somehow thought thrusting her to the front would help them in the long run as well as quell their fears.

As they burst through the double doors they found themselves in the largest room they'd ever seen. It was ten times bigger than Albert's and, even though he'd hate to admit it, it far surpassed his throne in beauty. He almost wished it was his.

It took them a minute more to get up close enough to even see Doel, but as they did they slowed. He was up on his perch high above them. There wasn't much they could do unless he came down –and they all knew it. But that didn't keep them from keeping a ready hand on their weapons.

Emperor Doel chuckled in amusement at the sight of them, waiting for the loud bang of the double doors to resound before he went to speak. "I wonder how you could come all the way here." He smirked devilishly at them, looking each over carefully to see if they were really any threat to him. "Silly daredevils." He shook his head, laughing again as he decided there was no need to worry.

Rose's mouth twitched uncontrollably in anger. She easily sensed by his tone, choice of words, and overall demeanor that he thought they were one big joke. She detested being underestimated. It didn't help that she could feel how irritated everyone else was too, because her second most hated thing was when her friends felt bad.

Dart slipped his sword up out of its sheath slightly so that the start of the silver of the blade was visible a smidgen, teeth grit in fury. "You must be Doel!" He snarled, eyes ablaze.

Doel's smug smirk spread further across his aged face. He then pulled the lever on his chair so that it sank down to their level and he was staring at them face to face.

Albert's angry eyes bore into Doel. "Uncle…" He muttered sadly, his tone contrasting greatly with his facial expression. "Do you remember me?"

Doel made it a habit to look Albert over again. Yes, of course he remembered. There was even a tiny twinge of pain as he felt he was almost looking into the past, at his brother.

When Doel did not answer, Albert grew more frustrated. His fists quaked with the emotion. "I am the son of your late brother!" He spelled it out for him. "Albert!"

Doel nodded solemnly. "You remind me of Carlo…twenty years ago." He admitted. The similarities were uncanny, bone chilling even. But he quickly let go of the regret and spat, "A bloodstained corpse in front of me!" His eyes grew darker still, sinister smile nothing short of eerie.

Albert bared his teeth, drawing his javelin out and pointing it at him threateningly. "Why did you kill him!?" He demanded, that same angry bitterness finding its way into his eyes as it had with his tone minutes before. "Why did you have to divide Serdio by killing my father!?" He stepped forward in anticipation, really wanting to know. All his life he never could understand it. And now was his chance…probably his last chance.

Doel smile turned cruel. "To save Serdio from an incapable leader named Carlo." He said simply, his tone arrogant as he rose from his seat and walked a few paces toward them. "And now my hands are about to give birth to the new Serdio!" He laughed happily, a bright insanity filled grin forming for a fraction of a second as he thrust his arms into the air.

Dart growled loudly, pulling out his sword. "Birth!?" He could not believe what he was hearing. "What you are doing is only destructive!"

"Yes!" Haschel agreed wholeheartedly, taking the position to strike when the need arose. "You have given birth to sorrow, pain, agony, and our anger!"

Dart narrowed his gaze, seeing only Doel as his anger reached a boiling point. "Tell me!" He demanded, teeth gleaming as his lips curled back in a snarl. "Why did you have Shana taken away!?" He'd been waiting for the chance to ask this since the moment he'd heard Shana had been taken. It was a question that burned strongly within him at every moment of the day.

Doel was mildly surprised by this query. He hadn't realized this was that girl. He just knew she had somehow broken out of jail. So…these were the ones who did it? "Oh, you are talking about Lloyd's conspiracy." He smiled smugly. "'Find the girl by the time the Moon That Never Sets waxes…'" He repeated what had been told to him countless times by Lloyd. "All is ordered by the reborn Emperor Diaz." He allowed them a moment more to take this in before adding, "Lloyd is a mere pawn. Along with the Dragoons…"

All had puzzled looks as he told them this. It sounded like another thing to add to the list of crazy ideas that somehow became reality around them.

Rose, unlike the others, scoffed loudly at this statement. "Don't be stupid." She snapped. "Emperor Diaz died in the Dragon Campaign." Her tone lost its intensity to a degree as she said also, "As a human…a hero." It would have been improper to show such hostility when saying this statement.

Doel simultaneously rolled his eyes and snorted at her lack of faith. "I don't care whether you believe it or not. It won't make any difference to the reality!"

Rose shook with fury at being mocked, whipping her stiletto out in a second flat. "You wanna bet!?" She snarled, eyes filled to the brim with an unquenchable fire. "Reality can become quite distorted when put in the hands of the right person!"

Now that everyone but the girl from Seles was posed to strike, Doel figured it was time to end this pointless chitchat. He took a few more steps closer. "You thought you would defeat me with greater numbers, right?" He chortled.

Their angry eyes pierced through him. Shana finally drew her bow and prepared an arrow.

Doel ripped out his thick twin blades, pointing them dangerously forward. "Come!" He ordered them all, the next bit only for Albert. "I'll send you to your father's place!"

"Uncle!" Albert snarled.

"Doel!" Dart yelled an instant after Albert before all hell broke loose.

Doel shot forward, cleaving his blades in an outward motion to hit two targets at once if luck allowed it.

The group instantly scattered, taking up their own positions to get a feel of what they were up against in a way they understood before charging blindly in.

Rose quickly knew how she'd handle this, rushing back toward him with her stiletto raised and a fire in her step.

Doel yanked one blade up swiftly to guard himself and the other he reared back, posed to strike.

The sound of metal on metal issued forth as Rose's stiletto slammed hard up against his. The screeching noise that followed from their blades sliding up and down on one another as they struggled was even more disgruntling.

Doel held his place in the deadlock, only unable to best her with pure strength because he was focusing on controlling both his limbs. And in another blink of an eye he swung his second blade forward.

Rose's eyes caught the movement and she swiftly dove down, chancing being struck down with his now free blade before rolling far to the side and hopping back to her feet.

Doel, his heavy armor clunking, ran after her.

Rose smirked, heading back in to outdo him with nothing more than sheer speed.

Doel struck out at her quickly approaching figure, one time with each of his blades.

Rose ducked, making a swipe at his legs with her sword before jumping back up promptly and swirling about to be sure she always had an eye on him.

Doel swung his blade around full circle, his tactics almost exactly the same as Kongol's.

Rose ducked down again, thrusting her stiletto up hard to hopefully knock one of his weapons out of his grasp.

Doel barely held on to his weapon, growling lightly under his breath. This woman was quite frustrating. He would be sure to finish her first and foremost.

The other four had become trapped by a swarm of guards that appeared out of nowhere. It wasn't that they were challenging, Dart just didn't like leaving Rose alone to fight Doel on her own.

"We have to help." Dart insisted, slicing another one across the chest and stopping another's sword from coming down hard on him from behind just in time.

Haschel smacked one in the face with his fist, dropkicking another before shouting back, "I don't think you realize the situation!" He punched the next over his shoulder, finding no need to turn around. "She's probably better off than us!"

"Yeah!" Albert agreed, jabbing one in the chest. "And besides, she can take care of herself!"

Dart shook his head, taking off three heads in on full circle swing. "I don't know…" he knew her better than that. Her head-on attitude could be good, but when there was no one backing her up she was almost guaranteed to falter and fail.

Rose laughed in amusement, jumping gracefully over his blades as he swung them madly. "Think fast." She hissed, cutting her stiletto across his chest smoothly.

It cut an opening in his armor, barely grazing the skin. But that didn't stop him from shooting her the dirtiest look imaginable.

Rose relished in the faint traces of blood that now stained her weapon, not opposed in the least at letting her blade taste even more of it.

"That's it!" Doel snarled, jerking forward to go after her.

Rose's smug smirk fell flat from her face, her eyes widened considerably, and she sucked in a sharp breath as a flash of something around his chest caught her eye.

Rose's smirk was now on Doel's lips as he took in her reaction and thrust his massive sword up inches from her throat. "I see you noticed my trinket." He chuckled, fingering the item. "I'm surprised you know what it is though. Not many do." He glanced over at the others who were nearly through his defenses. "Not that it changes anything."

"Rose!" Dart screamed, taking another soldier out as he tried desperately to get over to her.

Rose stood stock still, not exactly afraid, but not a hundred percent sure moving would be the best course of action.

Doel chortled cruelly. "So, how would you prefer to die? I'll let you choose." He pressed the blade all the way up against her, drawing a fraction of blood. "Will it be by my blade? Or…perhaps you would like a little electricity."

Rose saw the sparks dancing around the area of both his swords and she decided she didn't want either of the options, her menacing glare and angry snarl returning to her lips. "You won't kill me." She breathed, jerking her sword up hard and slamming the blade pressed against her away from her long enough for her to jam her sword through his stomach, twisting it viciously.

Doel cried out in agony, hands shaking as he was forced to keep a hold of his weapons instead of clutch at his wound. "You-" He stopped himself, instead using this moment to clamp both his swords around her tiny body and lift her above him in the air as a maniacal laughter consumed him. "You want to play tough?"

Rose sucked in a sharp breath as the sudden pressure on her upper stomach knocked the air out of her. She couldn't even fight it either because he had her arms held fast at her sides. She tried to say something through clenched teeth as she squirmed furiously, nothing coherent coming out.

Doel laughed at her, squeezing his twin swords tighter about her. "I can play that way too!" He slung her haphazardly across the room.

Rose grunted softly as she hit the ground and tumbled along for a minute. Once she stopped she lifted her head up to get a look at where he was and what he was doing now. But she already knew what it would be; there was no way it couldn't be.

Doel was bent over now, curled in on himself as a yellow ring of energy surrounded him and his body began to quake with the addition of power to his wounded body. He was almost afraid that he wouldn't be able to handle it.

Rose wanted to get up and stop him, but as she jumped to her feet she stumbled inexplicably and found herself back down on her knees. As she started to just throw her weapon at him she saw she couldn't move her arms either. Electrical charges were wrapped around her wrists and ankles, keeping her glued to the ground. "No…"

The yellow ring around him grew smaller with every passing second, gathering in a large clump at his chest before he jerked up into a standing position. His motion made it shoot outward at a great range and a blinding white light fill every space of the room along with his angry, agonized scream.

Lightning shot down randomly all around him and the others from the ceiling, they all heard it, and created a deafening noise as it made contact with the concrete flooring.

Dart covered his ears in reaction to the snap, still unable to see anything from the aftermath of the light that had burst forth from Doel. All he knew was that they were in imminent danger; his Dragoon Spirit told him so. "Shana! Where are you!?" They were just lucky the guards had been taken care of moments before this started.

A huge bolt of lightning came crashing down on Doel once the white light was completely gone, the charge from it spreading out around him in a circle. Particles of purple light quickly filling the inside of the circle before the buildup shot upward to wrap Doel in a beam of the purple light.

"Dart!" Shana cried back to him, throwing herself at him in the spare seconds before something bad would surely happen again.

Dart wrapped his large arms around her body, holding her tight. But he still couldn't keep his mind from Rose. She was the one who needed his help. She was all alone.

Doel felt his energy returning to him at this point and he was able to breathe easy once more and let the transformation do its thing. His normal armor was built over with a thicker layer of purple electrically charged armor, orb on his chest the color green, and the blades of his twin swords were made larger and deadlier before they became coated in a purple matter somewhere between a solid and air.

Rose still couldn't move, just do as she had when he'd clamped his swords around her and struggle. However that didn't mean she was blind. As she looked frantically about she saw what Doel was about to do, his sword that glowed brightest touching down on the surface of the floor. "Dart!" She had to get his attention. "Dart!"

Dart snapped to attention, releasing Shana as he readied himself for whatever was about to come from Doel's move. "Rose!?" He cried back, eyes for once not looking for her.

"Get up off the ground!" She insisted, the purple from his sword flooding the floor where she lay and further trapped her. Her head was slammed down to the lowest point and she could no longer see anything going on. She could barely talk loud enough. "You have to do it! Now!"

There was a certain urgency in her tone that he hadn't heard before, and it startled him. Whatever was about to happen apparently worried even her, so it worried him ten times more. It was this jolt of fear that allowed him the necessary drive to transform in a split second.

Rose smirked as she saw the burning light of the flame engulf Dart and she allowed her body to untense greatly. At least he would be able to fight.

Dart pulled Shana close to him before shooting up into the air. He left the ground an instant before the purple substance reached him. Once high enough he sighed heavily, seeing fully what he had narrowly escaped as the other two fell victim.

Albert and Haschel were slammed down to the floor as the purple light passed beneath them, it acting as a magnet of the sorts. They were absolutely helpless, no amount of struggling doing any good.

"We're so screwed." Haschel grumbled, pulling despite the pointlessness of the action.

Albert was only half listening as he tried to get himself to transform like Dart in the hopes that it might give him the power to break away from the magnetic force created. "Maybe…"

Doel's maniacal laughter split the air along with the smashes of lightning as they ruined the floor. "Now you are all subjected to my will!" He cackled, calling down more thick bolts to strike randomly around him. He had the ability to control it, but he didn't desire this right now.

Shana sucked in a sharp breath as she watched the lightning touch down close to their friends as well as themselves. "Dart!"

Dart swerved out of the way of the dangerous electricity with ease, focusing solely on a way to get the other three out of this and smite Doel while holding Shana. He really didn't think he was capable of such a feat at this point. He wasn't trained enough. "Find Rose."

Shana frowned deeply; amazed she was still able to get jealous in such a situation. "There!" She cried an instant after, pointing down close to the corner of the room.

Doel chose her to go after without a second thought because of what she'd done to him. She was a threat, and she needed to die. "You aren't much now, are you?" Doel chuckled cruelly, slamming his foot into her side to send her flying.

Rose groaned, the magnetic pull that jerked her downward hurting her more than the kick itself. She then instinctively went to touch the afflicted area, becoming further anguished as she remembered this wasn't going to happen.

Doel walked over to her, placing a foot firmly on her exposed neck. "You know, this is way too easy like this."

Rose growled angrily through her gritted teeth, even the white of her eyes turning black as her eye color as she muttered words beneath her breath.

Doel started at what came next. So did Dart and Shana.

Black energy came up out of nowhere, wrapping its thin ligaments around Doel's legs first and working its way up his body.

Doel yelped sharply. He stumbled back in a poor attempt to get away from whatever this was.

Rose's eyes grew darker still, the source of the darkness now stemming from her own body. But even though she was getting him to back off, that didn't mean she wanted this to keep going. Whenever she was too caged in and had absolutely no faith in being saved this kicked in without her permission and was extremely liable to consume her. That's why it was no longer an option to turn into a Dragoon in this battle, she feared she would lose all control of her actions and hurt someone she didn't mean to.

Doel was freaking out as the black substance neared his arms which would render his weapons useless to him. So he jumped back toward Rose, raising both swords above her to slice her in pieces.

Dart's eyes grew ten times wider than normal as he experienced a mini panic attack. "Shana!" He cried out instantly.

"I'm on it." She didn't have to ask what he meant. She raised her bow and took care to make sure her aim was dead on. She didn't want to hit Rose by mistake.

Doel barely felt the arrow, but he found himself turning around anyway to pierce her with his deadly look. "You wanna play?" He hissed, pointing his blade with the least amount of purple coating at them.

Shana swallowed hard, hugging Dart tight with her one free hand. "D-Dart."

Sparks shot out from the tip of his blade at a blinding speed, flying toward Dart and Shana.

Dart dropped quickly in an attempt to avoid the sparks.

Sadly they sought him out and wrapped themselves around his body, freezing him only temporarily. It was unlike the three on the ground.

Dart gritted his teeth as he felt his body defy his commands and stiffen like a board. He could barely keep ahold of Shana by the end.

Doel smirked deviously, pointing his other sword up into the air as the first fell back to his side. This was his course of action so that when he directed a lightning bolt to come down it connected with the tip of the second blade. It charged the weapon, increasing the thickness of the purple substance wrapped around the sword.

"Shana." Dart forced out. "Get on my back." This way whatever was about to happen would be less likely to reach her.

Shana tried to obey, having less luck at moving than Dart. "I…I can't."

Doel thrust his sword forward, a wide spanning path of electrical purple matter shooting forth like a laser to blast all in its path.

A fire ignited in Dart's eyes as he saw the quickly approaching beam of energy and he somehow broke free from the binding power an instant before he was smacked with it. And in this amount of time he was able to turn himself around and wrap his arms protectively around Shana to shield her.

Dart was shot out of the air by the blast, smacking the ground hard enough to unsettle the concrete as well as knock him out.

Shana had been jolted by the impact, but she'd been mostly protected by Dart's body. So she was able to crawl out of his grasp after a moment of wooziness.

Rose couldn't tell where they were at from her position, but if she knew Dart well enough he would have made sure Shana remained conscious even at his own expense. "Shana!" Rose yelled to her. "You have to transform!"

Shana felt the electrical charge of the floor wrapping itself around her hands and arms as she foolishly placed them on its surface. However, she was able to jerk away before it had her completely in its grip. "H-How!?" Shana cried frantically, up on top of Dart's still body to avoid the same trap the others had fallen into.

"Want it! Want it so bad it hurts!" Rose knew after she said it that it wouldn't be enough to trigger the appropriate reaction in Shana, but it also occurred to her what would. Shana hated seeing Dart hurt as much as, if not more so, than Rose did. So there was only one way to do this. "Or Dart could get hurt again! He could **die**!"

Shana was jolted by such a suggestion, the breath knocked clear out of her. "No…" Her mind flashed back to Lavitz with Jiango and then with Lloyd. No…she wouldn't let it happen again! Never! "NOO!" She screamed, tears welling in her eyes as the light burst forth from her spirit and filled every inch of the room.

Rose sighed heavily, glad it worked. If it hadn't she didn't know what she would have done.

Shana's body altered itself so that it was covered with the best armor for protection she could ever have. Her flimsy bow grew thick and turned white and blue like her armor, arrow already set in its place with the bow. "I won't let it happen!"

Rose knew she was going to aim for Doel, which was good and well, but Rose really needed her not to for this first strike. "Aim for the floor!"

Shana started. "What!? Why would I do that!?" She lined her arrow up perfectly with Doel who was smirking cruelly at her, sword aimed to shoot another set of sparks at her.

"Just do it!" Rose snarled. "I know what I'm doing!"

Shana cringed at her harsh tone and caved, letting her bow point downward as she released it.

As her arrow struck the floor a light poured from its tip and started to spread across it like Doel's electrical energy had done at first. Only Shana's was a purifying energy, it countered Doel's as well as healed all those pure of heart.

This meant, as the light reached beneath the others, they finally felt the grip of the magnet like force release them and they quickly jumped up. It even woke Dart up as it passed him.

Dart's eyes slowly opened, his vision blurred and mind hazy, as he went to stand. He didn't realize what was going on at first either. All he knew was he was a Dragoon, which couldn't be good.

Doel growled loudly, almost screaming. "Stupid girl!" He threw a large bunch of electricity at her.

Shana let a soft yelp escape her lips as she saw the electricity heading for her, but she could not get her muscles to react right and she did not escape it.

The electricity wrapped itself around her, sending jolts of immense magnitude through her body as it also paralyzed her.

Shana screamed bloody murder as her body burned on the inside and out and it forced her body to stiffen so that she could not fight back.

Both Rose's and Dart's eyes caught fire in that instant, hating the sound of her in pain. However Rose was the first to act, quicker than Dart.

Rose sprang forward, flipping to her hands and then high into the air to slam her feet against the back of his head and bring him down to the ground. Once on the ground she locked him in a position that he could not get out of, her sword pressed against his neck. "Let her go!"

Dart was scared to death as he watched Shana shake uncontrollably due to the electrical current coursing through her. His body was as frozen as hers too, only his voice and eyes working. "Rose!" He snarled. "Kill him!"

Rose's intense gaze shot up to Dart, but she didn't say anything to him. She quickly looked back to Doel, yelling, "I said let her go!" She knew that this particular move could only be stopped by the user. If you killed the user then you were dooming the one trapped to a painful death. She'd seen it before. "Or I'll start chopping off limbs."

Doel burst out laughing at this, not caring about his life at this point. He knew that he was going to die no matter what he did since they all seemed to be Dragoons as he was. Dragoons were powerful beings that could control even dragons. So even two to one was impossible odds for Doel. "Do your worst." He hissed.

Rose snickered. "I will." She assured, bringing her stiletto down hard on his wrist.

Doel cried out in agony and panic, his hand detaching from the rest of his body just like that. But mostly he couldn't believe that she knew exactly what to cut off.

Rose hadn't been a hundred percent sure she was right when she did it, but upon seeing the look of disbelief flash across Doel's face she knew she'd picked right. Now that the part of his body that had been controlling the electrical current was no longer apart of him Shana would be released.

The electricity surrounding Shana slowly began to dissipate and her body grew slack before she finally lost consciousness and plummeted to the ground.

"Shana!" Dart cried, too far away to do anything but watch.

Albert was tired of being useless in this battle, it was supposed to be his for goodness sake, and he sprinted forward. Then there was a point where he knew running wouldn't get him there in time, and he pole vaulted, leaving his weapon behind to soar through the air and catch Shana effortlessly.

Dart sighed heavily as he saw Albert save her from hitting the ground. And he was then able to easily focus back on the real issue.

Rose now was ready to dispose of Doel, blade posed to cut through his neck in one swing.

A flare of anger surged in Doel as he watched his strategy fall into even more pieces, giving him the strength to throw Rose off of him before she could finish the job of killing him. "You won't win!" He seethed, breathing growing heavier the higher his anger reached.

Rose grunted as she landed on her butt, scowling bitterly at both him and herself.

Doel sprang into the air, maniacal laughter filling the air once more. "I **will** win!" He was lying to himself, but at that point he didn't really know this anymore. The insanity of blood loss was returning to him as the blood dripped continuously from his arm and his chest wound underneath the Dragoon armor started to ache again.

Dart narrowed his eyes, mouth turned down into a sharp snarl. "Never!" He quickly formed a ball of fire, taking a sloppy aim in a second, and then released it.

Doel dodged to the side, unable to stop laughing. "You aren't going to get anywhere if you can't hit your target!" He held his side as he was moved by his own laughter.

Dart growled angrily, forming one in each hand this time around before chucking them with all he had in him.

Doel laughed harder, smoothly weaving in and out of each one.

The longer this went on the crazier Doel became and the more infuriated Dart became, his aim suffering as a result. Unlike Rose, anger did not make him do better in such a situation, just become more desperate.

Rose still didn't trust herself to transform since traces of the black substance still surrounded her and so she did the only thing she could from this level. She hurled her stiletto through the air in hopes it would hit some part of Doel.

Doel was still cackling at Dart as he threw the fireballs faster and faster with no luck, but he was still sane enough to sense the approaching danger and quickly moved to the side. "Fool!" He snapped at Rose, maneuvering around another barrage of fireballs. "Humans can't beat a Dragoon!"

Rose growled beneath her breath, body quaking in anger. Now she not only couldn't match him as a Dragoon, but her weapon was on the other side of the room.

As Doel kept on with his tirade there was a sudden blast of wind that smacked him straight in the chest, knocking him back a ways and throwing him off balance. He looked fervently about, not knowing where it had come from.

The culprit happened to be Albert, standing by Shana in his Dragoon armor with an intense look of anger on his face and his weapon held sideways in his two hands.

Rose was almost as shocked as Doel as she saw what happened. She never imagined Albert would be so quick to tap into his magical abilities even if it was by accident. It was still amazing.

"Give up Doel!" Albert snarled, preparing to spin his powerful javelin in a circle again to try and produce the same result as a moment ago.

Dart used this moment where Doel was stunned to make the perfect fireball and to take careful aim. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it perfect. And he hurled it at his chest with all he had in him.

The air was knocked out of Doel as he was smacked dead in the stomach and slammed to the ground. It took only a second more for the fireball to sink past his thick armor and trigger a searing pain on his skin, a pain so intense that he howled in anguish.

Rose ran like the wind to grab her sword and then attack Doel while he was down.

Doel writhed on the floor like a fish out of water as his skin grew darker and darker still as the burns became more serious.

Rose jumped through the air, jamming her stiletto into his armor covering his stomach hard enough to crack it and dig deep in his gut.

Doel's eyes widened considerably as he was hit with unbearable torture. But this time he didn't let it get the best of him, he raised his one good hand and shot a blast of electricity at her.

Rose was thrown back at an unimaginable speed to slam back against one of the walls of the room. The impact forced a groan past her dark lips and her muscles suddenly quit on her.

"I'm ending this now." Doel hissed, eyes bloodshot and blood seeping from all over. So with the last of his energy he pulled off one of the most complicated magic spells for his Dragoon. He threw his sword into the air, it lingering at the center of the room as the purple energy wrapped around it was released from the tip to create a sea of purple above them.

Haschel felt the faint electrical energy in the air, the hair on his skin rising, before the rest of them did since he was still human. "Guys…" he murmured warily, not sure what was going to happen.

Shana finally regained consciousness as the event started to unfold, a high pitched scream escaping her as a lightning bolt struck mere inches from her.

The others then realized the trouble they were in as well. They were basically trapped in an electrical storm spanning the length of the room. There was very little they could do but dodge to the best of their abilities and pray for it to stop.

Doel dove down for his other weapon by his severed hand, scooping it up and calling down endless lightning to terrorize as well as distract his enemies.

Albert grabbed Haschel up off the ground an instant before a bolt struck that exact spot and flew around nonstop. He wasn't headed anywhere, but he felt as long as he was moving he would be safe.

Shana hurried to mimic Albert's actions, flying randomly about.

Dart normally would have went to protect Shana, his first instinct, but in this case he had to go to Rose. She hadn't moved much since she'd been sent flying and he feared she wouldn't have the strength to move even if she was about to be fried.

Rose felt herself being lifted up off of the ground in the moments that followed, her body falling into Dart's without her permission. "You don't have to always try to save me." She grumbled.

Dart shook his head as well as rolled his eyes. "You needed help." He shrugged. "I wasn't just going to leave you there."

"I can take care of myself." She insisted through grit teeth, jerking to attention and putting up a barrier that literally lasted a second as a streak of lightening careened down at them.

As contact was made a loud snapping noise was produced, deafening the pair for a moment.

Doel used the lightning as cover so he could zoom in and aim to beat them down with his sword, powered up by the electrical storm. And he went for Albert first.

Albert tried to swerve out of the way, mostly to keep Haschel who was still vulnerable from being cut down, but he still wasn't used to his wings. So he could not outfly Doel, who had practiced this long and hard.

Doel slashed his blade straight across Albert's back and then back across it again.

Albert cried out as two fresh cuts forming an x were etched in his back and he stumbled in the air. He even came close to crashing on the floor, barely saving himself an inch before contact.

At that point Doel was already headed back toward Dart, sword glowing brighter by the second.

Rose's eyes darted back over Dart's shoulder as the blur that was Doel came after them. "Dart!" She snapped. "Coming up!"

Dart jerked his head around to see what she meant, eyes narrowing into thin slits as he saw the flash of purple. He quickly shifted Rose into just one of his hands, spinning around swiftly to draw his sword and lash out at Doel.

Doel met Dart's sword with a loud clash, pushing with all he had in him to throw Dart back and give himself the opportunity to strike at Rose who was virtually defenseless in her position.

Rose felt a chunk of the flesh on her arm get carved out as she jerked her sword up to defend herself and she struggled to stifle a groan in response.

Dart's anger flared up as he hurt Rose and he struck out and dug his sword deep in Doel's shoulder.

Doel groaned, a darkness flashing in his eyes. "Now you'll die." He growled, shooting up to the thin layer of purple spread out in the air. As he reached it he dropped his sword to take hold of the one still floating. And as he grabbed it the purple was sucked back in toward the sword, making it overflow with the purple energy to the point sparks were flying.

Rose's grip on Dart tightened despite what her mind was telling her. Somehow the shift in the atmosphere had her on edge. She knew that they were about to get pummeled with electricity and pressure, and she didn't want it to happen. She didn't want her friends hurt.

Once all the purple energy had been absorbed he pointed his sword downward, hurling the ball of energy down at them. The closer it got the more it stretched out so that there was no escape.

Dart had both Shana and Rose pressed against him as if it would help protect them from the inevitable shock of the blow. And Albert still had Haschel by his side. They were all frantic.

Albert couldn't bear what he was seeing. The fear plastered across everyone's face sent a shiver down his spine and his fast beating heart jumped up into his throat. So when he looked at Rose last and saw that she was just as afraid, something stirred in him. His heart skipped a beat, and he screamed, "STOP!"

In the blink of an eye a green ball of light formed at his chest and spread out in a dome over everyone, pushing the purple energy back with an unmatchable force.

Rose's eyes shot open wide as she saw Albert pull off another magic spell. She could not believe this, there was no way it was happening. "That's…amazing…"

The purple energy was sent spiraling back at Doel and made a direct hit despite his best efforts to get away from the blast. He was then knocked down to the ground, skidding a good twenty feet.

Almost like a reaction to the sureness of victory, they all lost their Dragoon armor and became vulnerable humans again.

Dart and Albert were the quickest to hop up, Albert experiencing a sharp pain from the two open wounds on his back despite what his face said, their weapons raised defensively. They also braced themselves for any dirty trick Doel might try to pull off as a last effort to hurt them before death took him.

Doel could not feel anything but pain throughout his whole body as he lay on the ground, blood pooling around him. The only thing that allowed him to rise from his fallen position was his wings which flapped slowly until he was back on his unsteady feet.

The others were a step behind Dart and Albert now as they remained vigilant. Rose more so than any of them could tell them how a good as dead man could come back and whip you with his last breaths.

Doel thrust his sword with his little energy down into the concrete, leaning heavily on it. "You have become…strong." He breathed, chuckling faintly.

Albert's intense expression softened a bit and he lowered his weapon to his side as he saw a glimpse of the Doel he'd known so long ago. "Uncle…" the insanity had gone from Doel's being and the truth of his death somehow made him seem more calm, perhaps even accepting of the loss of the war.

Doel smiled ever so slightly, coughing up blood as he forced himself to say what was heavy on his mind. If he did not, he knew he would never be able to die in peace. "What you should know is not the past, but the future." He cringed, moving his handless arm to his stomach. "Pursue…Lloyd. He is in the western country of…Tiberoa."

Dart was slowly untensing as he saw that Doel was reverting to a state of sincerity. "Tiberoa?"

Doel tried to nod, but his body wouldn't listen. "He…he knows everything." His eyes were drifting shut and his head bobbed slightly as he struggled to remain conscious. "Go…go and find out…about the world." His head fell to rest against the handle of the sword, his vision blurring and hearing failing him as he whispered, "…about…everything." And his eyes fell shut for the final time, body limp with only his sword holding it up.

Even though Doel had tried to kill him and all his friends, Dart couldn't help but bow his head as Doel slipped away.

Albert shifted his javelin into his other hand, stamping it down gently on the floor before hitting his clenched fist against his chest.

Doel's body was consumed by the light of his Dragoon Spirit as it took back its power and made Doel's body vanish as Greham's had. Once any trace of him albeit the blood had been removed the light dimmed and the tiny stone slowly rose high into the air, too far for any of them to see.

Albert sighed heavily. "My uncle's-err…Emperor Doel's ambitions are over." Albert turned around to face the others, eyes burdened by what he'd done to his only other family member despite how much Doel had deserved this. "It places an end to this long, ceaseless war that has divided Serdio into two."

Everyone, even Rose, nodded faintly.

Albert smiled painfully, happy to be through with the violence and sad that he would probably part with these people now and never see them again. "This is the end of our journey everyone…"

Dart crossed his arms over his chest, turning and walking a few paces away before lifting his head skyward and deciding, "Not yet." He murmured, bowing his head as his fists clenched and shook without his permission. "It's not over yet…"

Rose looked up at him, brow raised.

Dart spun around, an intense look replacing the troubled one he'd worn when facing them a moment ago. "This journey began when Shana was taken away!" He motioned to her. "Then Lavitz was killed, and Lloyd headed for Tiberoa, leaving the mystery about Shana behind!" He shook his head, smirking faintly.

Rose loved the enthusiasm and determination he had toward such things, especially when it involved people he cared about. Zieg had been the same.

"I am pursuing Lloyd!" Dart cried energetically, doing a fist pump. "I'll make him explain everything!"

Shana moved forward a step. "I'll go with you." She smiled sweetly, hands clasped at her chest. "I still don't know anything about Virage or what was said by Emperor Diaz." She shook her head sadly at her own ignorance. "My journey can not end like this…I'll go with you, Dart!"

Albert had wrongly assumed that Dart and the others wouldn't share his interest in finding out what was happening with the Moon Gem and, upon realizing his fault, smiled some. "My journey 'can not end' either." He lifted his head to the sky, thinking of Lavitz. "Whatever conspiracy the man is forming, one of the keys is the Moon Gem: hollowed object concealing the magic power of the ancient Winglies."

Dart nodded, grin spreading despite his best efforts.

Albert smiled back. "We have to stop it before it ignites a catastrophe in Tiberoa! So yes, I'll go with you to Tiberoa." He looked to Rose more than the others as he said what he did next, "I'll give up my status as king for a while and live as a Dragoon instead."

Rose smirked at his decision. It was a wise move and something she had nothing negative to say about. "That's good." She said instead.

Albert would have been glowing had this train of thought not led to Lavitz. But since it had, he lost his smile and sighed heavily. "Lavitz would have completely agreed." He bowed his head some.

Haschel wasn't sure of himself. He hadn't traveled long with them and didn't quite feel the same sense of belonging. So instead of giving his answer he looked to Rose and asked, "Rose, how about you?"

Rose pushed herself up off the wall like section that the green burning substance shot out of. "I don't have anything better to do." She shrugged.

Dart shrugged slightly, a frown forming. He hated when she tried to pretend she didn't care.

Rose turned to him, giving her best attempt at a smile. "Besides, you feel naked without me, don't you?" It was her definition of a joke.

Dart smiled back.

Haschel chuckled, smiling falsely. "If Rose is going…that's the end of my role." He turned away from them, head held lower than usual as he walked in the opposite direction.

Rose turned her eyes on him, staring intently at the back of his head.

Dart stared blankly for a moment before he found his voice. "Haschel, where are you going?"

Haschel stopped then as a loud twinkling sound caught his attention. And as he looked up toward the source of the noise, he was captivated by the sight. "This is…?"

Everyone else followed his gaze, seeing the same sparkling jewel heading down toward him.

As it came within his reach he raised his arm into the air to close his hand around it. As soon as he touched it it burst to life, a purple light shining brilliantly before all their eyes.

Rose smirked, knowing this would happen all along. As a result she recited a saying, "When Dragoons meet, blood will flow and as they leave, time does slow." She then looked nonchalantly at Haschel, acting as if it didn't matter if he still decided to leave. "It's your choice to leave your fate behind."

Haschel grinned wickedly, turning back around to face them as he held up his spirit. "The question is answered."

Dart smiled broadly. He was pleased that they would all remain with one another. "Dragoon Spirits are leading us!" He exclaimed, throwing an arm in the air in triumph.

Everyone mimicked him, feeling the same.

As they all held an arm in the air Dart felt the need to thank whatever was connecting them. He would even go as far as to say that it was fate, even if he had never believed in it before. After all, nothing in his world was supposed to exist in this age. So why couldn't this?

**That's it then. The end of the first book. I probably won't post the second book for a while if at all. I'm still not sure. Maybe you all can say something to convince me. I don't really know what I need to hear to decide one way or the other. I just know right now I don't think I will. Either way I hope that the first book was as fun for you all as it was for me. Please review!**


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